Frisk
by Tsuki the Wolf
Summary: It's Frisk's birthday and it's time for some fun! (We now know about Sans's past...but what about Frisk's? As Asriel asked: why did Frisk climb Mt. Ebott? Well, they have their own reasons.) (Queerplatonic Sans/Frisk. Trigger warnings of emotional abuse. Rated T just in case. Part 4 of my Undertale Series but can be read alone if you want.) (Cover Art courtesy of dogpu on tumblr!)
1. Snow Day

Winter was in full swing now. It was hard to believe that it had been half a year since the monsters had returned to the Overworld to join up with humanity again. It was…going better than anyone had expected (although Papyrus had been certain that everything would work out just fine). Monsters had become the major topic of most media sources. The Underworld, you had learned, was really much bigger than you had seen. There had been whole cities under there that you didn't get to visit and so that meant there were monsters in other countries as well. Compared to humans, though, monsters remained 1/500 which was a smaller then you had expected but you hadn't known all of the information about monsters.

The monsters, however, all knew you. Many of them had wanted to visit you personally but hadn't been able to due to various reasons. As ambassador you had to meet up with many leaders of many countries. Your head swam from meeting so many famous people. You had to speak at a podium standing next to your makeshift family in front of the U.N. The whole time your hands had shaken and when you had finally finished and answered all of the questions you could, you had to flee to reorient yourself. Toriel had come to comfort you which had helped some, but then Sans began to crack jokes about the humans that had you giggling and Toriel –seeing your reaction- had joined in until the three of you were crying with laughter and Papyrus was screaming.

It had been a relief to go back home.

Ebbott had grown larger in the past six months. It was well on its way to a decently sized town that reminded you of where you had gone to school. Toriel had a small private school where she was teaching monsters and the humans whose families had decided to try to live in a town full of monsters. You went there full time along with the monsters you had made friends with along the way in the Underworld including Snowy and Lans, the little monster kid you had met in Waterfall. Apparently their overwhelming affection for Undyne had shifted over to Papyrus instead and often Lans could be seen following the skeleton around admiringly. Papyrus had let it go to his head (much to nobody's surprise) but he adored children and was a great role model.

Undyne and Alphys now had two homes. Apparently while in town, one of the wrestler's at a local gym had seen Undyne suplex a car (luckily abandoned) just because she could and had been so impressed he had demanded she give him lessons. The wrestler –though going through Training Hell- was quickly becoming one of the best in the country. Undyne was making a name but the trip to the city could be a hassle. Between Mettaton, Alphys, and quite a bit of gold (given to them by Asgore because he now felt that he didn't need so much) they had built another home within the city. It had caused quite a stir with the humans in the city. Feelings were still very much mixed about having the creatures there (especially with all of their….colorful shapes and designs) but humans were nothing if not adaptable. Even when they didn't want to be. You often considered worrying for all the monsters that didn't live in the cultural boundaries of Ebbott but you knew they could take care of themselves. Hopefully with little bloodshed.

In reaction to his friends living so far away, Papyrus decided to finally fulfill his dream of getting a car and driving down the highway. He hadn't realized at first that you actually needed a license before he could drive or that there were speed limits he had to abide by so he had soon been pulled over by police. He had gotten off with a warning and was directed to the nearest place to get a license.

You still weren't sure how he was able to legally acquire it.

He actually wasn't that bad of a driver after being given tips. He even got a convertible so that Asgore could ride with everyone. He always looked so happy to drive down the highways and you were glad he had achieved his dream. Even if he didn't have the hair he had (for some reason) imagined he would have. Sans, in response, had gotten a moped. It was acid green and the fastest little bike you had seen in your life. You were 100% certain he had altered it because there was no way he and his little bike could appear in some of the places it did. Or maybe he could take his bike through his shortcuts? You had tried to ask him before but his answer had been vague. You liked to ride with him on it, though you preferred to be the one to drive it. If he drove it, he would take shortcuts left and right and would scare the life out of you in some of the places you ended up. You never knew where you were going to end up. He seemed ceaselessly amused by the death grip you had on his waist when you rode with him.

Winter in Ebbott was mild in the beginning and quickly became horrible. The trees you lived under (because monsters apparently liked building around their environment when they could) was able to block quite a bit of the snow but the roads needed to be cleared often. The humans who lived in Ebbott soon learned the benefits of being friendly with monsters that had magic. You, especially, were grateful for Toriel and her magical flames. Sans's jacket was now officially coming in handy. The extra material of it, combined with the weight, usually served well to block against gusts of wind. All you really needed to do was wear a turtleneck and a scarf to protect the parts above the hanging neckline. Toriel did well to provide such material meaning she insisted upon you being layered like an onion). She had informed you that it was to make up for not giving you supplies to weather the elements in the Underworld. In retrospect you were rather glad that she hadn't because you couldn't imagine lugging around a snow jacket with you across Hotland. You had spent much more time there than in the snow. You didn't mind her doting though. It was more comforting than annoying.

You had awoken bundled up in a cocoon of blankets this morning. The room was a bit chilly but the contrast between the dry heat under the covers and the nippy air had you strangely energetic. You buried your face in your pillow and rubbed your legs along your sheets enthusiastically. It felt good to shake the sleep from your limbs and now your blood was really pumping. You ducked your head under the blankets and with one long luxurious stretch (while keeping all of your limbs well-covered) you were ready to face the day.

…If you could manage to convince yourself to leave the warm nest you called your bed.

Even though it was stuffy with even your head hidden, the heat made you drowsy and you zoned out. You weren't sure how much time passed before you woke up again and popped your head back out to gasp fresh air. You lay on your pillow and stared at the ceiling, still not quite working up the needed motivation to face the cold. You were fairly certain that you had dozed off at least three times before a soft knock popped your little bubble of sleepiness. You turned your head as Toriel opened the door enough to peek in. You smiled at the sight of her, already in a great mood. She appeared pleased to see you awake and already smiling. It wasn't often you were able to sleep in. Toriel had to cancel school because of the snow fall last night and because she had wanted the children –monster and human alike- to experience a "snow day".

"Good morning, my child. I am glad you are awake. Breakfast –or should I say 'brunch'?- is ready."

You perked up at the thought of food as your stomach growled (you also needed to pee) but getting up to fight the chill still didn't appeal to you.

"What is the matter, Frisk?" Toriel asked and then teased, "Are you getting 'cold feet'?" Your mouth twitched and you bit back a snigger. You then began to laugh more realizing how terrible Sans had made her. You rolled over to muffle your giggles in your pillow. A weight dipped the edge of your bed and you peeked through your hair to see Toriel grinning at your merriment.

"You cannot give me the cold shoulder!" She said and her wiggling fingers found your sides. Unexpectedly a shriek tore from you and you thrashed to escape her tickle torture. Laughter erupted out of you as you tried to avoid hitting her. She giggled as you fought until you cried mercy.

"Mom!" You burst out with a slight plea in your voice. You could barely breathe with all of your movements but you were still laughing.

Toriel relinquished you cheerfully and brushed your hair back out of your face. You panted and your eyes were damp but you were grinning. Her smile and eyes softened. "What is it, my child?" She asked. Calling her "mom" always made her so happy.

Well your covers were officially gone and you were too hot to want them back anyway. You sat up and stared at Toriel until she opened her arms in offering. You happily accepted. Out of everyone you loved Toriel's hugs the best. She always smelled of paper and the wispy cent of her magic fire. Her fur was pleasant and soft and her body was warm –unlike all of your other friends' considering they were either cold-blooded, kind of slimy, or literally all bones. The only person who could come close to matching her hugs was Asgore (he was so large that he could sweep you up and hold you close every time. He sometimes carried you on his shoulders even though you were far too big by human standards to do that anymore. You loved it). The only reason they weren't tied was because Toriel's hug in the Ruins before you had left had been the first real hug you had ever received.

With that as a basis, nobody could top her hugs.

Toriel chuckled and placed a kiss on the top of your head. One of the best parts about being so small was the ability to be fully encompassed in your surrogate parents' hugs. "Well, someone is in a good mood today! Any reason why?" You shook your head. It was only your birthday. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. Toriel gave you one last squeeze before releasing you so that both of you could stand. The carpeted floor was nice on cold days like this but you still put on your slippers. They matched Toriel's much larger ones.

"Come then, before our food grows cold." She said and led the way out into the hallway. Your house was set up much like the one in the Ruins only this time there were more rooms and the garden was in the backyard rather than out front. The rooms were left over from when Toriel had hosted school in the house but now they were all used as either spare bedrooms (for your friends and/or ambassadors from all over) or entertainment rooms. The garden, in truth, was mostly yours. You shared Asgore's but at Toriel's you experiments. The garden wasn't as pretty or as organized but you were showing some green thumb skills. You grew fruits and vegetables with Toriel and flowers with Asgore.

The dining table was still monster sized and thus fairly tall. Most monsters didn't have a problem but tiny people like you (and Sans. And Alphys) all needed cushions to lift you up. You firmly refused to use a booster seat. Also, much like Sans's and Papyrus's couch, the chairs were equally tall and you had to climb up into your seat. Toriel had made breakfast grilled cheese sandwiches with apple juice. Your stomach howled with joy.

You ate ferociously as Toriel chuckled at you. "So child, what are your plans for your first 'snow day'?" It wasn't really your _first_ snow day but you weren't going to tell her that.

You took a few moments to chew and contemplate. This morning (which you were already late for) you were going to play with the other children down in the park. The lake where you used to hide had frozen over (and if it was still too thin, you had plenty of ice monsters to help freeze it) and it would be great for skating on. With your allowance you had already bought skates as a present to yourself (hey, you were allowed to splurge a bit! Not all of it was needed for college!). Originally all of you kids had agreed there would be NO ADULTS ALLOWED but then you had the idea to invite the human children from the nearby town. You thought that it would be a good idea to let the kids interact so that the still-wary human parents would feel more relaxed. The walk wasn't long and both Ebbott and the neighboring town shared the lake so you and your friends (and whatever monster parents that wanted to come) could walk to their side. That way both the monsters' and the humans' parents could talk.

"Oh!" Toriel clapped her hands together after you told her your plan. Her face glowed with pride. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Frisk!" You blushed, glad that she liked the plan. "Do you need me to come along?" You shook your head. You were certain you could diffuse any situation that may come up (and you had already made a SAVE last night just in case). Anyway there would be other monster parents there to keep an eye out. "And what about after?" Toriel prompted.

You finished off your sandwich. This afternoon you had plans to ride with Papyrus, Sans, and Asgore to go to Undyne's wrestling match. The woman was still extremely powerful (being able to suplex a bolder just because she could) but that just made it more of a challenge for the humans who wanted to face her. Fans of wrestling everywhere were coming to the nearest big city to watch people go at it with Undyne. She's won every match so far. As long as she doesn't seriously injure or kill someone, she could continue with her new gig.

Undyne loved it.

She didn't have wrestling matches often (usually being just a trainer) so this was the first official match you were going to. You and Papyrus were going to help with her "pre-match warm-up" which was actually a full-on exercise regime for the two of you. You weren't going to go all-out today considering you wanted to feel your body afterwards.

Toriel didn't look happy to hear Undyne was training you. You hurried to assure her that it was only to keep healthy and strong rather than learn how to fight. You didn't even want to fight anyone.

After Undyne's matches (which should end by early evening…or earlier if Undyne is feeling particularly vicious) the lot of you –including Alphys who was to meet you at the match- were going back to their house to eat dinner and watch anime.

"You have a busy day!" Toriel exclaimed and ushered you to your room to get dressed. She followed after you and you took off your jacket to remove your shirt. You shivered in the chill of the room but the sun's rays were doing well at keeping the room a steady temperature. "Oh, Frisk," you paused as you were pulling down your pants to give her a questioning look, "would you like me to wash your jacket? I mean…" she picked up the blue coat, "Sans's jacket? You are returning it again tonight, right?"

You shook your head about getting it washed but nodded about returning it. It wasn't dirty and Sans never cared even if it was. The two of you had developed a schedule of sorts for the jacket. You wore it for a number of nights (it didn't matter how long) and then you would decide to return it to Sans for about three nights. The reason you had given, when asked, was that you didn't want to consider it really "your" jacket when you borrowed it. Sans, Toriel, and Asgore were the only ones that knew the true reasons why you borrowed the jacket (though you suspected Papyrus knew and understood but he's never said anything so you're not certain) so they knew that when you said it wasn't "your" jacket it was because it would lose its "power" to block nightmares.

(You never told anyone else that the other reason you let him have the coat back was because you missed how it smelled after he wore it. That was a little too personal.)

Toriel gave you a concerned look as you finished undressing and went for your clothing in your closet. So many striped shirts to choose from. "Will you need to sleep with me, my child?"

Though Toriel still didn't know what your nightmares are about (maybe you'll tell her someday) she always offered her bed on the nights they were expected to come. She and Asgore both had extremely large beds so there was never any trouble for room. The nightmares didn't stay away when you had company in your bed. One time you had slept in Papyrus's bed (he had claimed that, as your best friend, you deserved to sleep with him on occasion and not Sans) on a night you had returned the jacket you had kicked out in a fit and injured the both of you by slamming your knees together. You knee had been bruised and swollen for a week and Papyrus had to readjust his patella before he could walk properly. He still limped slightly for two days but he had taken it with as much good humor as a skeleton could have when his brother kept cracking knee jokes. The comfort of having someone there when you awoke was a relief though.

You tugged on some snow pants and a woolen shirt (blue with yellow stripes. Handmade) and nodded sheepishly at her.

Something relaxed in her face. "Alright." She said. "Now hurry! I'm certain your friends are waiting!" You did begin to hurry. You put on all of your clothing before rushing to the door. You decided at the last moment to just continue wearing Sans's jacket for the day.

Before you dashed out of the house, though, you paused and looked at Toriel. "What is it, my child?" She asked. Your hand was already on the doorknob and the cold wind made you both shiver.

"What will…you be doing?" You asked shyly. You wanted to spend some quality time with her as well on your day off.

She flushed a tiny bit with pleasure. "W-well….I was….going to do a bit of shopping. And then…I do not know. Perhaps I shall do some grading!"

That didn't sound like fun. "Do you…want me to come with you?"

"Oh! No, no, no, Frisk!" Toriel said quickly (too quickly?) and shook her head. "Please, go have fun. I will see you later! The shopping em _must_ /em get done."

You guessed that she had a good point. Still…You walked over and took her hand. "Come to Undyne and Alphys's later?" You half-pleaded. You wanted all of your friends and family together for at least one night. Even if it was just watching anime.

You could see Toriel's heart melt, probably able to read your reason in your face. "Yes, alright. I will be there." Her mouth twitched a bit and you blinked. Was she hiding something? "Now go, child. Your friends are waiting!" She wound your scarf securely around your neck and gave a gentle push out the door. "Text me when you leave with the boys!" She called after you as you took off running.

You waved and disappeared into the forest.


	2. Picnic

**A/N:** Sorry this is so short. I wanted to bust out one more chapter tonight. Hopefully the next one will be longer!

* * *

This icy feeling in your lungs was familiar in a good way. Ebott looked nothing like Snowdin did but with the snow everywhere it reminded you of the calm town. The crunch of the fresh snow –undisturbed by vehicles this far into the forest- echoed off of the silence of the park trees. It seemed to muffle everything so you needed to strain your ears to hear anyone. Luckily you already knew where you were going. Your breath fogged the air as you ran, excited. Despite the hat you wore, a chill was already pricking your ears.

"Frisk!" You came to an abrupt stop as Lansot ran towards you, separating from the group of the other children and parents. They made it a good couple of feet before they tripped and plopped straight into the snow. You grinned as the others laughed at Lansot's usual clumsiness. The monster kid's cape (taken from their current hero Papyrus) billowed out behind them before settling on the snow. It fell over them like a blanket before they shifted to push themselves back up. Despite the snow dripping off of their face and clothing, they were grinning at you. "There you are, dude! What took you so long?"

"Yeah!" A young Loox –you were fairly sure it was Eddie- agreed while jumping up and down. "You were supposed to be here a while ago!"

You sent everyone an apologetic look before examining who all was here. A majority of your monster classmates had shown up –even the ones that didn't have legs which you were pleased about. There were four other humans joining you all as well –each with a parent no doubt to show support to the monsters- of ranging ages. Two were classmates but the other two were a younger and an older sibling of your classmate. They carried with them picnic supplies. You made sure to wave. In all your group numbered somewhere around twenty, if you had to guess. Every monster parent greeted you which still seemed to startle the human parents. You found it strange how no matter how long they seemed to live here, the humans were always surprised at how friendly monsters were towards you.

You should try interacting with humans more. You were a teenager now –practically a grown up!

….No, you still didn't like talking. And you weren't ready to stop being a kid yet.

"I wonder if they're actually going to be there!" Lansot called out as your group began to walk one of the trails around the lake. You felt like you were on a field trip.

"I should hope so!" Tamara –one of the humans in your class- huffed out a puff of air into the cold. She had her arms full carrying her skates. You didn't understand why she didn't just tie the laces together and sling them over her shoulders like you did. "We're going all of this way for these racists, after all!"

"Tamara!" Her mother scolded from where she was carrying Tamara's younger sister.

"What's a 'racist?" An Ice Cap named Chass asked.

"It's a mean word." Tamara whispered in a conspirator tone.

"She's not wrong, though!" The other human parent, Sam, agreed. He rubbed his mustache before shaking his shaggy head. His usual mop of red hair was half-tied up in a ponytail despite the cold. "Most of the people living in that town that haven't given monsters a chance just don't want to because they're monsters and not because they're bad people!"

"You only say that because you don't like most of those people in that town." Chass's parent (you still weren't sure if they were male or female. Or if they had a gender. You didn't worry about the semantics of monsters and their reproduction habits) teased and nudged Sam.

"Well…yeah. True." Sam said.

Snowy joined you and Lansot where he groaned. "What a way to break the 'ice'!" He joked.

You laughed and he grinned at you. You were half-ashamed to admit that your sense of humor was now always tickled by puns –no matter how terrible.

Lansot, though, complained loudly (and in a way that you just knew they took from Papyrus), "Your jokes are getting worse by the day, dude!"

Snowy was offended and ruffled it's…feathers?...at them. "My jokes are hilarious! Even dad thinks so!"

Speaking of parents you were actually a little surprised. You poked Snowy to get his attention. "Mom?" You asked.

"Mom and dad didn't think it would be a good idea to come. I don't think most humans are ready for how 'cool' my mom is yet." Snowy boasted. You smiled at him and were a little relieved. You hadn't been certain that humans would react well to the Amalgamations either. You had been rather terrified upon meeting them yourself and by that point you were used to monsters. Remembering how Snowy's mother used to be still made your heart ache. You were sincerely glad that Alphys had told the truth to everyone and had reunited the families. Monsters were so accepting of so many things.

"Who's there?!" One of the monster parents called out making everyone stop in their steps. You looked around curiously with the others as you heard heavy footsteps in the forest. You couldn't see anyone though.

"Oh!" Whitney the Whimsun exclaimed, fluttering in delight and nervousness. "King Fluffybuns!"

"King Fluffybuns…?" Sam muttered in confusion.

Lansot hopped up and down to try to see over people. "It's your dad, Frisk!"

You hurried around everyone and ducked under a few others before you found a sheepish Asgore. He was dressed warmly in a fuzzy sweater that Toriel had helped you make recently and long pants with boots. His dangling ears were covered in a furred cloth that you weren't sure could be considered a hat but was being worn as one anyway. He also wore the heavy cloak he used to wear with his armor, but instead now used to block wind. He was scratching his bearded cheek and looking over everyone. On his back was a bag laden with food and drinks. You blinked at him.

"What'cha doing here, Dad Fluffybuns?" Lansot asked as they came up beside you.

"I, uh, well." He looked at you and appeared even more embarrassed. You had told him yesterday about wanting to go to the next town over with everyone but, like Toriel, had told him he hadn't needed to come. "I wished to join everyone." He held up some make-shift ice skates to show. The blades appeared to have been welded onto a pair of old shoes.

"That's awesome!" Lansot cheered and turned to you. "Dude, the king is going ice skating with us!"

"Now, I'm not king anymore." Asgore tried but Lansot was on a roll and ran back into the group of children and parents shouting, "EVERYONE! THE KING IS ICE SKATING WITH US!"

Everyone cheered and the parents gave Asgore sympathetic smiles as the old king himself sighed in a mixture of humored exasperation. You grabbed onto Asgore's free hand and tugged on it a bit to get his attention. "Ah, Frisk. I know you told me I didn't need to come but I could not pass this up." The group began moving forward again and you two followed along. Neither of you let go of each other's hands. "I love seeing children so happy. Also," from the depths of his cloak he pulled out a softball that was too small for his hands but kind of large for yours, "I thought, after we have both fallen down on the ice enough, we could play a game of catch. It is a nice day."

You nodded in agreement, pleased. His large paw of a hand kept your hand warmer than your gloves ever could.

* * *

There weren't that many human children at the lake when you all arrived. In fact, there were mostly a couple teenagers lurking on the edges. Apparently the flier that you had sent the city council about a week ago to set up this little rendezvous hadn't been as readily accepted as you had thought. However, on the plus side, there were other humans actually there. Most of them were adults –some of which gave your group dirty looks but others were more pleased to see the monsters.

You were disappointed. The whole point of this was for your two towns to have fun together. Asgore released your hand and placed it on your head. You looked up at his kindly smile and felt a little better. "Do not worry, little one. These things take time. And after all," he looked to see some of the adults beginning to interact with each other. The very sparse amount of children that the more open parents had brought with them were hesitant to approach the rather colorful collection of monster children but luckily your human classmates were prepared to vouch for their friends, "with time I am sure we can all become great friends as long as we remain friendly."

You watched Asgore. There was a lingering sadness in his eyes as he gazed around the park. His eyes landed on some of the buildings and stayed there. You recognized that look from the early days after arriving on the surface. During those times you hadn't paid enough attention because you had been caught up in your own troubles but now…now you recognized the look. It was the same guilt and sorrow –and burnt out rage- you had seen back when you had fought him (in another lifetime). Asgore was remembering his children.

You lifted his paw off of your head and cradled it. He didn't notice too much so you shook it to get his attention. He blinked, startled to see he had zoned out, before he looked down at you with a sad smile. You pretended not to notice. You pointed at the bag on his back and began to tug him towards a good spot to set down a blanket for a picnic. It would be nice in the sun and the blanket would doubtlessly be big enough for others.

"Ah, yes. We must hurry before the good spots are taken!" Asgore agreed seeming to cheer up. He gave you a sly smile. "Shall I race you?" Instead of responding you immediately took off. You could hear his deep chortles behind you before he followed after. Nearby you heard a shout of alarm from one of the humans but you ignored it. Your friends laughed to see Asgore chasing after you.

"FLUFFYBUNS IS AFTER FRISK!" You heard Lansot shout. "PROTECT THE HUMAN CHILD!" Your classmates cheered and you turned around to see the lot of them tackling Asgore. The old king began laughing loudly and wiggling under the onslaught.

"Oh no!" He cried, playing along, "Children warriors! Royal Guard! Help!"

"Don't worry, Frisk! We'll protect you!" Tamara called from her position of clinging to Asgore's shin.

"Wait!" Lansot cried. "I'm the Royal Guard!" They were scandalized. "I attacked the king! Dude, I'm gonna get so fired!"

"Get the guard!" Eddie demanded and the children rallied. You giggled to yourself and noticed the other-town kids hovering nearby. Only one of them looked officially disgusted but the others were curious. The younger ones even looked like they wanted to join in.

You opened your arms and caught their attentions. "I'm defenseless!" You called as loud as you could manage (which, admittedly, wasn't super loud but it was enough). The younger children were surprised to see you interacting with them. Some of your friends had paused from their attack on Asgore.

Asgore slowly climbed to his feet, untroubled by all of the children clinging to him. He made exaggerated movements towards you and roared, "Nobody can stop me from catching the human child!" Seeing him so happy made your heart swell.

"What are you waiting for, man?!" Lansot called to the humans. "Back up the human child before me and King Fluffybuns catch them!" Lansot ran towards you. A child shrieked and ran to your aid and jumped in front of you wielding a small stick.

"I will take up arms for the human child!" The little girl cried. She was younger than you but she puffed out her chest in a way that reminded you of Undyne.

"Me too!" Cried another child that appeared to be the first child's twin. They ran over and hesitated only a moment before grabbing your hand and pulling you away. "Run, your majesty!" Apparently they didn't realize you weren't royalty but you quickly followed them.

"No! You cannot escape me!" Asgore roared and began to shake the children.

"Tickle him!" You called to your "army" and soon enough Asgore was being subdued. You pulled your new friend to a stop and pointed as reinforcements of monster parents and human parents alike began to help Asgore. "We need to help!"

"Right!" The little girl agreed and the two of your joined the fray.


	3. Wrestling Match

**A/N: So apparently fanfiction has a problem with emoji hearts. You get the point though. Imagine it's there. XD**

* * *

You couldn't remember having so much fun with so many people before. After the assault on the king, the humans all began to open up a lot more. Apparently seeing the monster parents act like normal parents to human and monster children alike had caused most of the wary human parents to open up. Somehow you had even convinced some of the older teens over to join in on the field trip and have food. Some of them even ran off to go get family members. More and more people had arrived and soon it had become a party of sorts. There had been music, games, skating, and food and drinks. You were glad to see neighbors coming together. The thought that a world where monsters and humans lived together in peace was one step closer filled you with determination to keep trying and soon you felt a SAVE form. That had been unexpected but you supposed that it wasn't a problem.

This was the best birthday you've ever had.

Soon, though, the day began to wear on and it was time to start heading back if you were going to join up with Sans and Papyrus. Some of the other parents and children weren't ready to head back so with cheerful goodbyes all around your group split with half of you going back to Ebott. You and Asgore tossed the softball back and forth between the trees. You were already rather full and tired but it's still only the middle of the day. You had to train with Undyne.

It must have shown on your face because Asgore caught the ball and held it, chuckling. "Are you worried?" You had already told him about your plans to train with Undyne earlier today during the picnic.

You shook your head. Undyne could easily push you past exhaustion but she had certainly gotten better at judging human stamina. However she hadn't quite gotten down that children don't have as much stamina as adults. She'll get there.

A yawn issued from Asgore's mouth and you stared at the large cloud it formed. Seeing as you weren't tossing the ball anymore you joined him at his side. "Golly, I'm already tired." He blinked a couple times.

"You _did_ have children crawling all over you." Tamara's mother said. Her children had both fallen asleep and she was managing to carry both –one in her arms and one on her back.

"Indeed!" The monster chuckled again, amused. "Um…" He looked at Tamara's mom. "Are you sure you do not wish for me to take a child?"

The woman shook her head. "Don't worry, Fluffybuns." Her voice held a teasing lilt. The humans, after being told the joke behind the name, had quickly picked up on it. It amused you to no end, "I'm used to this." Asgore didn't look appeased. Tamara wasn't exactly light, after all. "You can take them later on, okay? Since the walk's so long." She offered seeing his want to help.

Asgore nodded. "Yes, of course!"

"It's not faaaaair!" Lansot whined as they caught up to you. You managed to catch them before they stumbled in the slippery snow. They didn't even seem to notice. "I wanna go see Undyne fight! _And_ you get to hang out with my man Papyrus!"

Papyrus still didn't officially have a job besides helping Toriel with the children. As far as you knew all he did all day was be a teacher's assistant, drive his car, cook, and kick Sans out of the house. You and Lansot saw him practically every day so you didn't bother to comment on them bemoaning the unfairness of life. To be honest you couldn't bother with it. Despite how close all of you were, it was actually rare for all of your close friends to actually be in one place at a time. You were looking forward to tonight.

You and Asgore took the time to see some of the children home before you walked together to the old king's house. Sans and Papyrus were already waiting for you there. Papyrus was tapping his foot impatiently. "YOU'RE LATE!" He exclaimed. "WE'RE GOING TO MISS THE SHOW!"

"chill bro. nothing to grind your gears about." Sans said. He was lying on the hood of the car seemingly sunbathing despite the cold. He wore shades and had one of those strange metal folding things to help reflect the sun's rays. You stared at him in confusion. Why was he bothering? He had no skin.

"AGGHH!" Papyrus covered his nonexistent ears and shook his head. "ENOUGH OF YOUR CAR PUNS! I CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS ANYMORE!"

"Calm down, Papyrus." Asgore tried to soothe the tantrum the skeleton was throwing. "Frisk woke up a little late so we're all behind schedule."

"WHAT? REALLY?" Papyrus asked and looked at you surprised. Usually you were better with managing your time. "WELL THAT'S OKAY THEN."

"is frisk not being on time _ticking_ you off?" Sans asked. You snorted.

"SANS! I SAID STOP WITH THE PUNS!"

"actually you said stop with the car puns. i thought it was time for something new." He had a shit-eating grin on his face now.

"ALL PUNS MUST CEASE RIGHT NOW! NO PUNS IN MY CAR!"

"but you're smiling, bro."

"I'M _PATELLA_ ING YOU TO STOP."

"good one."

"THANK YOU. NYEH HEH HEH! BUT SERIOUSLY STOP."

"but i'm having the time of my life over here."

You had to muffle your giggles behind your hands. The fact that Asgore and Papyrus were clearly unamused was just making the situation all the funnier. Sans took off his glasses and slid from the car tossing his metal thing in the back of the car. Papyrus, still fuming, turned to go unlock his car as Asgore slid into the back seat. He always took up the full back seat just for himself so you were left in the front seat. Or riding with Sans.

You looked over at Sans as the skeleton hopped onto his moped. He noticed your wary look. If he had eyebrows, you were certain he'd be wiggling them. You could practically feel your lunch threatening to come up. You climbed into the passenger seat of Papyrus's car and buckled up. Papyrus may be a new driver, but at least he followed the laws. And road signs. And roads. And didn't drive on roofs.

Your chance of a heart attack decreased by 30% with the choice to ride with Papyrus.

"SANS!" Papyrus called out over the ignition of both of their engines. "WE WILL MEET YOU THERE."

"got it."

"MAKE SURE YOU SAVE OUR SEATS."

"okay bro."

"WE WILL BE WITH UNDYNE BACKSTAGE!"

"'k."

"DRIVE SAFELY!"

"'k."

You were fairly certain he wasn't actually listening anymore.

Sans gave a wave before his little bike zoomed off down the road, narrowly avoiding parked cars. Papryus grunted angrily. "THAT'S NOT DRIVING SAFELY! HE'S GOING TO DRIVE HIMSELF STRAIGHT INTO AN EARLY GRAVE." You laughed out loud at that. You then laughed even harder at the look on Papyrus's face. It was torn between being proud and being angry at himself for making a pun. "OH NO! I AM TURNING INTO MY BROTHER!"

"We should hurry, Papyrus." Asgore prompted before the poor skeleton could have an identity crisis.

"RIGHT! IS EVERYONE BUCKLED?" You looked behind you at Asgore. He couldn't actually buckle himself up but he had yet to be pulled over because of it. Maybe the police realized that Asgore physically couldn't wear the seatbelts. You patted his knee sympathetically. You then nodded at Papyrus and tugged at your seatbelt to show that it was firmly on. Pleased, Papyrus pulled away from the curb and you were off.

Driving with the ceiling down on such a cold day sucked. The icy wind turned into a gust going at the speeds you did. Papyrus –dressed in a thin button up sweater and scarf but wearing shorts and boots- seemed completely unaffected by the chill (he had no _skin. Why was Sans sunbathing?!_ ). In fact, he was enjoying it. Asgore buried his nose in his sweater and held onto his hat. You resorted to pulling up your hood (it still smelled like grease. Why did even the hood smell like grease?) and huddling down into the confines of your large jacket. It was only then, reminded of home, that you remembered that Toriel had wanted you to text her.

You slipped your phone out of your pocket and tucked it up into your jacket. You then pulled your arms in through the sleeves and ducked your head down into the body of the coat. Ah, that was so much warmer. You vaguely heard Papyrus say something about humans and their skin through the fluff of the coat and over the wind. You ignored it and typed out a message to Toriel to let her know you were on your way with the boys.

Tucked into the warm confines of your well-insulated jacket you waited. Nobody really expected you to make conversation…especially if you could barely be able to be heard over the wind. You nuzzled your face into the fur of the jacket. You could barely feel the cold picking into the material. Your phone dinged and you opened up your text.

 **That is good to hear! Thank you for telling me. ] : ) Please tell me when you are going to Undyne's. Also have fun, Frisk! 3 (Turn your head to the right. See? It is a heart! Alphys taught me that!)**

You smiled at the text and returned a confirmation before another text popped up onto your screen. It was from Undyne.

 **YO CHUMP! Where U guys at?**

You sent her a text back saying you all were on your way before popping your head back out of your jacket. You shivered and adjusted your scarf to sit properly before you hid the lower half of your face in it. Papyrus and Asgore were talking a song that had apparently been playing on the radio (you hadn't paid any attention) so you decided to look out at the scenery instead.

You recognized this area although the memories of it were from another time. The city was greyer now that it was winter. The last view you had seen of this place had been when there was still greenery. Although you had been wearing long sleeves that day, it had been rather warm. The bus had been only a little packed that day. People were mostly coming home from work and school. It had been the third bus you had taken since you had left your house. The murmuring of people and the hum of the bus had lulled you into a separate world. You wondered how people had seen you then: a single child without any items on them travelling alone. You hadn't brought a backpack or anything. What little money you'd had was spent on your tickets. You stomach had been growling. There was a pervading sense of loneliness and acceptance in the memory.

"Frisk." A large paw of a hand gently squeezing your shoulder had you jumping from your doze. What had you been thinking about? Your face felt half-numb as you looked to Asgore and his smiling face. "We are here, young one."

You were shocked to see that it was true. Around you people were moving towards the large stadium that towered over the parking lot. You gaped at the sheer size of it. You had never seen a building that big –although Asgore's castle had been pretty large itself. You hadn't realized that Undyne would be wrestling at such an official place. You looked around to see a couple of monsters among the crowd and felt proud. Undyne was representing the monsters in a way and was doing an excellent job at it.

"WOWIE! THIS PLACE IS A LOT BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT!" Papyrus voiced your own thoughts.

"Golly." Asgore agreed as he took in the surroundings. "How are we supposed to find where to go?"

"it's this way." Sans said as he joined your group from nowhere. He pointed with his thumb in the direction he'd just come from.

"SANS, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SAVING SEATS FOR US!" Papyrus said, his…eyebrow bones(? Again, you had stopped questioning how monsters worked) furrowing.

"i was. then these guys came by and said they were their seats. their tickets said so."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE _OUR_ SEATS?!"

"i didn't know there were assigned seats, man."

"OH. SORRY. THAT WAS MY BAD. HERE." He reached into his pocket and pulled out four laminated passes. They all had ropes around them (one being significantly larger than the others. Alphys must have altered it for Asgore) so you could wear them. Papyrus passed them out. On the passes were the picture and name of Undyne's fights as well as the letters V.I.P. and a seat number.

"uh, pap, if we have seat numbers then i don't need to save seats. they're saved for us." Sans pointed out.

"GOOD! NOW WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY! NYEH HEH HEH!" Cheered up, Papyrus led the march to wherever Sans had pointed.

Sans fell into step beside you. "you look pretty chill, kiddo. i mean that literally." You rubbed your still-cold face to try to warm it up some. "heh, you should'a ridden with me. been here for a while now. nice and toasty inside."

You liked your heart beating properly in your chest, thank you very much. You nudged him as a scolding, glaring at him. "Crazy driver." You said.

"you could'a driven."

"Illegal."

"only thirteen and already scared of a couple human laws."

You froze. How did Sans know that you were thirteen? You don't even recall ever telling anyone that you had been twelve. You opened you mouth to ask him when Papyrus shouted at you two to hurry up. You shot Sans a confused look before rushing to do so not wanting to be lost in the crowd.

The four of you found the VIP entrance and were ushered along down a corridor. It smelled like sweat and food. Not a fun combination. It only ended up making you the opposite of hungry. Asgore had to walk at the back of your little group and more than one human wrestler that you had passed –oh, you recognized that guy!- had stared at the king's bulk. Asgore looked a little embarrassed to be stared at so gapingly. You were more uncomfortable with being around so many strangers. You had done it before but you still liked it. There were lots of people back here (even cameras) but you knew there would be a lot more in stadium. Asgore brought you closer to him and you comforted each other with each of your presences.

Undyne's room was rather…isolated from all of the other rooms, you had noticed. It was such a long walk from the entrance and there didn't seem as many people back here. Perhaps it was for her protection (or theirs). That seemed like a reasonable enough thing to do. Asgore and Sans shared a look that you didn't miss but didn't understand.

Papyrus knocked on the door. "UNDYNE! IT IS I, THE GREAT-" He didn't even get to finish before the door was yanked open.

"FINALLY!" Undyne yelled and grabbed the front of Papyrus's shirt to yank him inside. Papyrus squeaked. The rest of you filed in quickly so as to not be yanked through the doorway. Alphys waved shyly from her chair in the corner as Undyne glared all of you down. She was dressed in a black spandex outfit that didn't hide her curves or muscles. Around her waist was the "place preserver" belt that she had made. It was, as the name stated, a place preserver for the actual belt she would win when she defeated everyone today. Her eyepatch had a skull on it today. She vaguely reminded you more of a pirate than usual.

"Took you guys long enough! We don't even have time to exercise! You are SO MAKING THIS UP LATER!" She made sure you and Papyrus were looking at her as she said this.

"Y-YES, UNDYNE." Papyrus agreed and you nodded as well. Sans wandered over and plopped down on the seat next to Alphys. The woman smiled a greeting at him but didn't say anything more. You watched them. The tension that both seemed to hold around each other made much more sense now that you knew about their shared past. It seemed that Gaster had affected their relationship.

"You're really going out there against so many opponents?" You caught Asgore asking Undyne.

"Of course!" Undyne boasted. She flexed. "It'll be a cake-walk!"

"There isn't a…peaceful way of resolving things?"

"Asgore, man, I think you're missing the point."

You joined Sans and Alphys, waving at the woman. "H-hi Frisk!" She said smiling at you. Her eyes couldn't seem to leave Undyne long. She looked starstruck. It very much reminded you of that time in the dump when she had confessed to Undyne. Alphys was a bit sweaty and kept wiping her forehead. "I'm glad you could make it." You didn't think this was Alphys's scene at all. Like you, she didn't seem very comfortable knowing she was going to be in a large crowd. She was very much a shut-in. She seemed to agree. "I'd…um…much rather be home. You know….working….b-but it's, um, nice to see Undyne dressed like –I-I MEAN HAVING FUN! Oh god." She put her face in her hands at her mistake and Sans laughed next to her.

"careful, alphys. there are kids around." Alphys's scales were turning an interesting shade of red. It was cool to see how her scales would change color completely at her mortification.

"Alphys!" Undyne came to the woman's rescue. "You need to show everyone to their seats." She turned to Papyrus. "I got you stage-side seating!"

"WOWIE! THAT MEANS WE CAN WATCH YOU THROW WRESTLERS INTO THE CROWD OVER OUR HEADS, RIGHT?" Papyrus asked.

"Damn straight!"

"I'M GLAD IT'S NOT ME THIS TIME!"

Alphys hopped out of her seat. "Undyne, we'll, erm, see you after the match! Good luck!"

"yeah, good luck." Sans told her before he walked out of the room.

"Be careful, Undyne!" Asgore said and shimmied through the small doorway out into the hall. Undyne snorted at that.

"I WILL WAVE TO YOU FROM THE CROWD SO YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE!" Papyrus announced.

"Papyrus, I already know where you'll be sitting-" Undyne tried to tell him but Papyrus was already rushing off to catch up to his wandering brother. Undyne huffed. You placed a supporting hand on her arm and smiled. She flashed a toothy grin at you and rubbed your hair vigorously (ow). "I'll make one of 'em do a flip for you, kid!"

You clenched your fists and nodded determinedly. You would love to see that!

You waved and you joined Alphys and Asgore outside. The three of you had to hurry to catch up to the skeletons. "I hope she doesn't hurt anyone too badly…" Asgore said, worried.

"D-Don't worry Asgore!" Alphys hurried to reassure, "The wrestlers know what to expect." Her voice lowered to a mutter, "Plus there's insurance coverage and medical waivers…"

"Humans are strange." Asgore decided. You agreed but you _were_ excited to see Undyne wrestle. That woman never seemed to get enough energy out of her system. She was very determined for a monster. You ran a hand over your face at the thought, unwanted memories springing from it, and brushed your hood back. No, don't think about sad things.

"THIS WAY!" Papyrus waved to you all as you finally caught up with the brothers. You could hear the roar of a crowd outside the door. You swallowed thickly. You could already feel the heat of so many bodies trapped in one place. Your hand reached out for someone to grab onto and it found Sans's hand. He looked at you.

"nervous?"

"It's hot." You replied instead.

"it's the heat of the moment."

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled.

"we're not in the car, bro." Sans argued casually, grinning. He really did like working his brother up. Whatever Papyrus had been about to shout back was drowned out by the crowd. Inside was dark but there were spotlights everywhere. The large square stage in the middle of the downward-slanting room was the brightest spot of all. You could feel sweat breaking out across your forehead and neck.

You didn't really know where you were going but Asgore's form was very easy to follow. With his hulking mass he managed to part the people lingering on the stairs you needed to get down from. It seemed you were all headed towards the stage. You stumbled as an adult slammed a little too hard into you. You would've been sent flying to the ground had you not had a grip on Sans's hand. You winced and suddenly you saw the adult fall face-first into the chairs. Startled, you looked to Sans just in time to catch a flash of blue coming from one of his eye sockets. You shivered, instinctively scared, but you squeezed his hand in thanks. He made a shrugging motion.

"Here we are!" You heard Alphys shout over the noise and you all shuffled into your seats. The very last row had a set of railings to warn of the sharp drop off into the pit in the middle where the stage was held. It was there that Asgore sat down. He was tall enough to see the stage but now short enough that he didn't block anybody's view. You patted the top of his head and grinned at him when he looked up at you. He chuckled.

"You are taller than me now, Frisk!"

"don't get to big for your britches."

"SANS I WILL TELL UNDYNE TO FIGHT YOU!"

"let's not do that."

You laughed and settled in next to Alphys and Sans. Alphys looked around somewhat unhappily so you drew her attention to you. There was a bit of time to spare before the event officially started. "Mettaton?" You asked her.

"W-what about him? Do you mean his career?" You nodded. Mettaton had run off as soon as he had his body fixed to go become a star. He had taken with him Shyren, Napstablook, and surprisingly Burgerpants. He often called Alphys whenever he wasn't busy and occasionally (a little too occasionally) Papyrus called him so you were aware that he was starting to hit it big. People loved a showy robot considering most humans hadn't really developed a robot quite like him. It made both Mettaton and Alphys puff up with pride. The news had done plenty of stories on him but you haven't been keeping up with it (too much was about you and your friends anyway).

Alphys huffed. "He's on Broadway now. Being part of shows and making his own. They, um, haven't hit it big yet…but it's getting there. The novelty hasn't worn off yet and he adjusts well." She seemed a bit sad. "Y-you know…I wish he'd come back soon. I miss watching…um, shows with him." You put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she gave you an appreciative smile. "Well," she perked up, "it's not…so bad, y'know? E-every day is busy! Undyne….Undyne makes things busy." You could imagine.

Just then loud music began to play and the show officially started. The place was suddenly busy with the announcer, the crowd, and the people moving about. You clapped and cheered with your friends and fans alike as Undyne took the stage. She flexed and grinned at the crowd, soaking up all of the attention. You faintly heard Alphys's sigh of pleasure. Looking at her you could literally see hearts in her eyes. Must be a monster thing. Or an anime thing. Anime monster thing.

"UNDYNE! WE ARE OVER HERE!" Papyrus waved enthusiastically, standing up. Undyne immediately looked over (she really did just know where you all were but Asgore wasn't hard to miss anyway) and waved back before giving a thumbs up.

According to the announcer, this wrestling event was different from most. Undyne was the opponent and one by one the wrestlers would face her and try to take her down in under three minutes. No holds barred….except magic, the announcer added after a large pause. Papyrus groaned. Asgore sighed in relief. Somehow Sans had gotten popcorn. If Undyne ran out of opponents then she would win the special belt and cash. If another wrestler won, then they would get all those plus bragging rights. Undyne grabbed the microphone and announced that she would give then "special lessons" if a human beat her.

There were a couple of catcalls that confused you. What was sexy about the Training Hell that wrestler would have to go through? Alphys looked annoyed.

"HUMANS ARE SO LIVELY!" Papyrus commented gleefully. "WHISTLES OF APPRECIATION!"

"not quite, my friend." Sans said but you doubted Papyrus had heard him.

"WHAT ARE THEY THEN, IF NOT IN APPRECIATION OF SPECIAL TRAINING?" Oh, he had heard him.

"they're thanking her."

"THAT'S EVEN BETTER!"

Undyne scowled clearly not thinking the whistles were thankful or appreciating. "IN SWORDFIGHTING!" She summoned one of her spears and stabbed the floor outside of the rink. Half the crowd cheered and the other half fell into a scared silence (most of the latter was from the people closest to where the spear had landed). Undyne was scolded.

You were happy to see that the first wrestler to face off against her was thrown into the crowd. Luckily nobody was too hurt but Undyne had proven her point.

The fighting was intense and, although you disliked fighting yourself, you got a thrill out of watching your friend defeat person after person. But at the same time you were well-aware at how much she was holding back. After all, you had fought her enough to know she was much stronger than this.

These humans weren't determined enough.

In the middle of the sixth round you thought that you felt your jacket buzz. You frowned in confusion and patted your pockets before pulling out your cell phone. The little light on it was blinking. Oh, you did have a message. You quickly pulled it up to see it was from Toriel.

 **Hello, Frisk! How are you enjoying the match?**

You responded positively to her telling her about the things you had seen and watched Undyne again before another message came in.

 **That sounds…interesting. I am done with both shopping and I am now grading papers. I cannot wait for tonight! ] : )**

You agreed with her and felt a bigger smile break out on your face. It would be great to have everyone together again.

A scream ripped from the current opponent of Undyne and you heard the woman cackle as the man went flipping into the crowd. She winked at you with her one exposed eye.

That…was so cool.

Hopefully it would be more peaceful than this.

* * *

 **A/N: Made some fanart for this chapter! www. tsukithewolf .tumblr / post/ 131897603191/ i-felt-like-drawing-frisks-reaction-to-undyne (all without spaces, of course)**

 **(Follow my tumblr for more bullshit)**


	4. Party

**A/N: Thank you everyone for all of the positive reviews! I'm very happy to see everyone loving this fic (and series).**

 **Quick clarification about Chara: No, they will not be appearing in my series. I like to think that Chara, although they were their own person, was a soul that was able to possess Frisk because of Frisk killing out of fear. The more EXP Frisk got, the stronger Chara got. But in the Pacifist ending, Frisk didn't have any EXP and by the time they got to Asriel they were determined to save their friends. Basically the love of their friends destroyed any feelings of L.O.V.E. they had. Chara has no more control over Frisk and with the release of the other human souls, Chara is gone as well.**

 **Sorry if that disappoints anyone. But there are also plenty of good fanfictions with Chara!**

* * *

There hadn't been any doubt in your mind that Undyne would triumph over all of the humans but it still made you ecstatic in the end to see her claiming her belt and money. Even Sans next to you was cheering while Alphys was screaming. She had gotten very passionate midway through and had stood on her seat since. Some of the things she had yelled had Sans covering your ears.

After everyone had cleared out of the building you were all left playing a game of hide and seek. And not on purpose. Alphys needed to find Undyne because they rode together, Sans needed to get to his moped, and your group needed to get to Papyrus's car but nobody had thought to memorize where you had parked. There was some frustration from Alphys because of leftover vicarious adrenaline from the wrestling made her prone to anger. It didn't help that Sans disappeared at one point and Papyrus freaked out worried that they had lost his short brother. Only telling him that no matter where Sans was he could probably find his way home faster than all of them calmed him down.

Eventually through a mixture of texting, shouted phone calls, and one vicious blog update did you all find each other (except Sans. He was probably long gone). You had hesitated a moment before hugging Undyne tightly. She had kept her promise.

"Hahaha! You liked that, chump?" Undyne crowed and picked you up to effortlessly carry you on one shoulder. You panicked a little because there wasn't much shoulder to sit on and you were certainly too big for this but she refused to let you down. "Are you having a great day?"

You nodded and wiggled in an effort to get down. Asgore relieved you and picked you up to place you back on the ground. Undyne didn't seem to care.

"Good! That means I'm winning!"

"GOSH! I DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WAS A TALLY GOING!" Papyrus said. He looked determined. "I'M GONNA HAVE TO TRY HARDER!"

"You think you can beat ME, Papyrus?" Undyne challenged. The skeleton sweated a bit and would've responded if Alphys hadn't cut in,

"U-um, we need to get home. You know? Anime waiting?" Her snippiness was going down but there was a still a hint there. You had a feeling she was also completely fed-up with being around so many people and wanted a little alone time.

"Alphys is right." Asgore said in a placating voice, "Papyrus can you please unlock your car so we may go? We shall see everyone in a little while, after all."

"OF COURSE, YOUR MAJESTY!" Papyrus said and ran around the car to unlock the doors. You waved goodbye to Undyne and Alphys as they told you they would meet you at home. You climbed into the front seat and buckled up before glancing outside. The sun was setting and the chill in the air was getting worse. You wish you could drive with the heater on as you bring up your hood and curl down into your jacket again for the ride. Perhaps you should've ridden with Undyne and Alphys. You hadn't even considered it at the time. Without the heat of the wrestling rink and the lights you were chilled to the bone and shivered.

"FRISK! I REMEMBER HOW HUMANS DO NOT LIKE THE COLD!" Papyrus said before he started the car. He then reached behind his seat to yank out a woolen blanket and give it to you. "TRY THIS!" You gave him a grateful look and immediately began to cocoon yourself in it so that no wind could touch your skin. "NOW YOU LOOK LESS LIKE A LIGHT BLUE BERRY AND MORE LIKE A BURRITO!" Papyrus laughed. Whichever one kept you from freezing.

"The ride isn't too long, Papryus?" Asgore asked as the skeleton carefully pulled out of the mostly-empty parking lot and pulled onto the main highway.

"THEY LIVE PRETTY CLOSE!"

"That is good." His teeth clacked a bit. Apparently fur and that heavy cloak could only keep someone so warm.

Undyne and Alphys lived downtown surrounded by many lights. Their house appeared to be more of a small factory than anything and had a fence around it that only improved on the likeness. Alphys's main laboratory was here. Even though she wasn't the royal scientist anymore, she had caught the interest of a number of scientists from her introduction of Mettaton as well as a couple of other advances (such as your phone jetpack) and so had quite a bit of grant money allowing her to fiddle with human scientific instruments. Her latest love, you noticed from the advanced-looking telescope you saw coming in, appeared to be studying the stars.

Papyrus ran ahead of you on the sidewalk until he stood in front of the door. He waited until you were right next to him ready to knock when he spun around. "FRISK!" You startled at the sudden calling of your name and looked at him questionably. "THIS HAS BEEN A GOOD DAY FOR YOU, HAS IT NOT? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE IT EVEN BETTER BY…" He reached to open the door and threw it open, "OPENING THE DOOR TO YOUR-"

"SURPRISE PARTY!" You jumped in shock as all of the voices of your friends combined to surprise you. Inside of the house was decorated with streamers, an absurd amount of balloons, pictures of you (a scary amount of pictures of you) as well as you with your friends, and what looked like might be party games. There was a piñata hanging from a long string on the ceiling and a Twister game in the corner of the room. You could smell a delicious dinner sitting in the kitchen and it didn't even smell burnt.

You stared with wide eyes at everything as your friends –even Toriel was there!- all clapped and welcomed you. You felt like your mind had temporarily shut down and you couldn't move out of the doorway without Asgore gently pushing you forward so everyone could come in and shut the door. Undyne and Alphys were the firsts to rush over and hug you tightly to them and dragged you further into the living room. "We thought that…our house in the city would be best…for the party. A surprise party. Are you surprised?" Alphys asked.

"Of course they are! NOBODY could've expected this!" Undyne boasted. The large wall television was already set up with the first anime of the night for whenever you all decided to watch it. Sans was sitting like a lump on the couch but he was watching you. The lights of his eyes were brighter than usual and seemed to be sparkling like he was honestly enjoying this moment as much as everyone. There was a black ball with rotating colorful lights spinning around. You thought you could hear party music that was popular in the early 2000's.

Papyrus was the next one to embrace you and spin you around enthusiastically. "I'VE NEVER BEEN TO A HUMAN BIRTHDAY PARTY, BUT WE RESEARCHED IT TOGETHER!"

He put you down and Sans appeared next to you to give you a one-armed hug. "happy birthday, pal. the big one-three."

"IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A NUMBER TO US, BUT IT'S STILL A BIG NUMBER FOR HUMANS!"

"right you are, pap."

"DO YOU LIKE IT, FRISK?"

You did a fairly good impression of a fish which had your friends laughing. You turned at last to Asgore and Toriel. The two stood next to each other and watched you with happy eyes. You could barely get your throat to work to form words, "A…birthday?" How had they even known?

Toriel gave a small chuckle. "Are you wondering how we knew, little one?" You gave a nod. "Do you remember when you became sick a few weeks ago? You were so sick…and we had to take you to the doctor's?" You faintly remembered that. It had been mostly a haze of fever and thirst and being smothered by your covers. You recalled your friends and family all panicking alike. Monsters had limited knowledge on human sicknesses, after all, so they had called up one of the humans in town. Seeing the condition you had been in, they had recommended taking you to a doctor friend that they had. "They had a…medical history sheet that you filled out?" You didn't remember that but you knew that doctors had such things. "You put your birthday down and I saw it."

Oh. That made sense.

"You should've told us sooner, kid!" Undyne complained. "We could've gotten together a HUGE party for you!"

"Yes, the whole of New New Home would love to celebrate their hero's day of birth!" Asgore agreed. You thought that was far too many people. That sounded like a holiday and that's just ridiculous. "But, seeing as we didn't have that kind of time, we put together a small party."

You fidgeted with the hem of your jacket before looking everyone in the eyes. When your eyes landed on your surrogate parents you asked shyly, "F-f…for me?" Your voice cracked at the end. Oh no.

"Of course, my child." Toriel said and finally you couldn't hold back anymore. A sob escaped you and tears filled your eyes. Your friends were startled and you ran over to hug Toriel and Asgore both as much as you could. You were certain you were muttering "thank you, thank you" over and over again but you couldn't get over how overwhelmed you were. A birthday party just for you!

Toriel and Asgore kneeled and hugged you together. Their warmth surrounded you and made you cry harder, so happy. "GROUP HUG!" Undyne called and the next thing you knew everyone was holding you. You began to laugh and couldn't stop. This really was the best day.

You all hugged for a few more long moments until you calmed down. Then as they pulled away Papyrus said, "IF ALL HUMANS REACT LIKE THIS FOR BIRTHDAYS, THEN WE SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE BIRTHDAYS!"

"papyrus, you're crying." Sans teased. You looked to see big wet tears dropping from the taller skeleton's eye sockets. You hiccupped a laugh.

"OF COURSE I AM! TEARS OF JOY!"

"Why do you cry, Frisk?" Toriel asked softly as she wiped your face.

"Are they tears of joy as well?" Asgore added.

You nodded quickly. "THEN LET'S MAKE THEM CRY MORE!" Undyne shouted and grabbed you by the back of your coat to take you into the kitchen. There she put you in a chair in front of what looked to be a feast. All of your favourite food items were there. Toriel had even made the butterscotch-cinnamon pie again. There was an extra table added to fit everything. It felt more like Thanksgiving than a birthday dinner.

Your friends piled in and sat down to eat. You hadn't realized how hungry you truly were until the food was right on your plate. You could hardly believe that all of them had managed to keep this secret from you all day. Now that you thought about it, there were plenty of hints but you would've never guessed a birthday party!

After dinner an ice cream cake was brought out. It had your name, thirteen candles, AND a little drawing of you and all of your friends around the edge. You marveled at it. An _actual_ birthday cake!

You were going to cry again.

Toriel summoned up a tiny flame on the tip of each candle. To your delight the flames were all different colors. "Now we have to do the chant!" She said.

"you mean the song?" Sans asked.

"Whatever it is we need to hurry before the flames burn out!" Undyne said. And together they all began to sing Happy Birthday. None of them sang the tune correctly and the notes were all off. You started laughing loudly as they all gave each other baffled looks.

"No, that's not how you sing it!" Undyne cried, her fist slamming on the table and shaking the items on it. The table groaned.

"NO, I AM SURE IT IS LIKE THAT!" Papyrus denied.

"it needs to be sung flatly." Sans said.

"I do not think that is so." Toriel worried.

"Perhaps we should have asked a human…" Asgore suggested.

Alphys sighed. "Am I the only one who researched this…? Just…follow my lead." And she hesitantly began to sing. The others listened before following along. Sans still sang flatly but by the grin on his face you knew he was just doing it on purpose. When they finally finished you leaned forward to blow out the candles. Your friends began to clap when the candles suddenly began to spark back to life. Confused, you did it again and again they sparked back to life. Alphys looked to Toriel in confusion but the woman shook her head. It wasn't her.

"oops. did i get those 'magically relighting' candles instead of normal ones?" Sans asked innocently.

"THEY HAVE MAGIC CANDLES?!" Papyrus cried.

"yeah."

"HUMANS ARE SO INTERESTING! I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD MAGIC!"

"now frisk'll get lots of wishes."

You blew the candles out a third time and when they began to spark again Undyne finally got tired of it and plucked the candles out to toss into the sink. You hadn't even considered making any wishes. Oh well.

Asgore carefully sliced the ice cream cake into large pieces so everyone got a big share. There were moans of pleasure all around as you all ate. Even Sans ate his. You still didn't know where the food or drinks went that the skeleton brothers consumed. The ice cream cake was layered vanilla and chocolate with some cookie crunch in the middle of it. The frosting was whipped. If you weren't so full from dinner you would've plowed through the cake.

"Why ice cream?" You asked, curious. You would've expected Toriel to bake a cake instead.

"tori was gonna make it…but then everyone began to fight over who would make it." Sans answered instead. You suddenly understood.

"Besides, I thought it would be an 'ice' experience!" Toriel said and Papyrus groaned as Sans and Toriel gave each other amused grins. You smiled brightly. You hadn't stopped smiling since dinner started.

"After this we give our presents, yes?" Asgore asked. He was licking the remnants of the cake from his spoon.

"YEAH! Frisk, you're gonna love mine!" Undyne declared. "As your bestie, it's MY job to make sure you get the BEST present!"

"UNDYNE, YOU ARE WRONG. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM FRISK'S CLOSEST FRIEND. I WAS, AFTER ALL, THEIR _FIRST_ FRIEND!" Papyrus denied looking haughty.

"Ex _CUSE_ me, Papyrus?" Undyne growled, slamming her spoon threateningly on the table. "WHO was the one who decided Frisk and me would be best friends?"

"YOU MAY HOLD THE TITLE OF 'BESTIE'. BUT. I AM STILL FRISK'S FIRST FRIEND!" Apparently Papyrus was really going to hold his ground on this one.

"technically i would be their first friend." Sans decided to throw his two cents in.

"NO, YOU CANNOT LIE TO ME! I SAW THEM FIRST!"

"you saw the rock first. i saw the human first."

"Oh my, do I not get a say in this?" Toriel asked, looking vaguely offended that she was being left out.

"W-well, I saw Frisk o-on my cameras first…" Alphys added quietly.

"Cameras don't count, Alphys!" Undyne said. She looked about ready to fight someone. Asgore sipped some tea silently, watching everything nervously. He couldn't voice an opinion in this.

You hit the tabletop with your palm a little hard. Everyone paused and looked at you. You smiled. "Presents?" You asked, to get back on point.

"Frisk is right! We'll determine this with presents!" Undyne jumped up from the table and ran out into the living room. "MY PRESENT FIRST!"

"WAIT, UNDYNE!" Papyrus shouted and followed after. Sans relaxed back into his chair and Asgore sighed in relief as the tension broke.

"…I was the one to meet Frisk first." You thought you heard Toriel grumble. You pushed your leftover cake aside as your friends came back in with armfuls of presents. They proceeded to dump the lot in front of you. You gaped at it.

"THE FASTER YOU OPEN, THE FASTER WE PLAY GAMES!" Papyrus said.

"And watch anime!" Undyne added.

"W-we're watching…um…Yona of the Sun…" Alphys said.

"It's about a princess who beats people up!"

"And other things…"

"SO HURRY UP, CHUMP! TEAR APART THE WRAPPING PAPER LIKE IT'S YOUR ENEMIES!" Undyne commanded. She paused. "Well…like opponents you don't want to be friends with." She chuckled.

Toriel, still a little salty from earlier, said, "Take your time, my child. We have all night." She was glaring a little at Undyne.

You were delighted by the amount of presents you got. _Actual_ presents! There was a full cosplay from Alphys ("It's Haruhi!" Alphys announced excitedly. "Your hair is a little long for her but you would still look so cute in the Ouran outfit!") and a dagger from Undyne that was practically the size of your arm. Toriel had been horrified and you didn't protest as she took it from you saying she would "let you have it when you were older". (To be honest, you didn't want it at all. Knives had a…much different meaning to you now). Luckily Undyne had also gotten you a bicycle and a trip to a spa ("Besties go to spas together! It's on tv all the time!").

Papyrus had gotten you an apron as well as a bone ("IT'S A FEMUR! GREAT FOR ATTACKING WITH!"). He had also given you a "THE GREAT PAPYRUS'S COOKBOOK AND PUZZLE COLLECTION MADE BY PAPYRUS HIMSELF" written in, unsurprisingly, Papyrus font. It was published and everything. How did he get it published?

Toriel, along with the dinner she had made, had gifted you a box of toys (ranging from superheroes, to Monster High (you laughed a little) dolls, to stuffed animals, to drawing supplies because she didn't know specifically what kind of toys you liked so she bought a bunch) as well as a large satchel to carry anything you needed in it. ("So you do not have to empty your backpack whenever you visit your friends' houses." She explained).

Asgore had bought you proper gardening gear as well as seeds to flowers you didn't know you could find here. Some of them looked to be plants that you had seen in the Underworld. One of them was the golden flower you had seen. It left you staring at it before firmly moving onto your other presents. Asgore had also bought you a small digital camera so you could start taking pictures as well as a sign language book.

You looked up at him in surprise at the last one. Asgore gave you a soft smile. "You do not like to talk, little one, so I thought you might wish to learn a new way to talk. Then…you can teach us!"

"That is….actually a rather good idea!" Toriel said watching Asgore with wide eyes.

"WHAT IS THIS…SIGN LANGUAGE?" Papyrus asked. Sans pulled your book over to him.

"you use your hands to talk." He said as he flipped through a few pages. He seemed rather interested in it. Now that you thought about it, Gaster's writing was with hands right?

"WOWIE! THERE'S A WHOLE LANGUAGE OF JUST HANDS? THAT SOUNDS…AMAZING!"

You loved the gift. You would've never considered learning sign language. You never had a reason to. You didn't really have anyone to talk to anyway and those that you did already knew that you could talk. You most likely would've been pressured to just use your words. But the monsters never really pressed you to speak when you didn't want to. You were glad to have another method. And learning a new language sounded like fun!

Lastly you had Sans's gift. It was an empty scrapbook along with various scrapbooking supplies. You hadn't expected something like this from him.

"now you have a place to put your pictures." He told you.

"So who won?" Undyne asked now that all of your presents were opened. Her smile demanded that you say her name. You just smiled widely.

"All of you." You said. Papyrus launched himself at you and pulled you into a hug. Before you knew it, you were once again in another group hug. Oh no, you were beginning to cry again. Your tears only made your friends laugh.

"You are crying again, Frisk!" Asgore chuckled.

You sniffled and wiped at your eyes. "I…I'm so happy. I've never…um…never had a birthday before. S-so, thank you!"

This gave everyone a pause. "But….you're thirteen!" Alphys said, confused.

"THAT'S NOT OLD FOR US. BUT. YOU HAD TWELVE BIRTHDAYS!" Papyrus added.

You shook your head. You've never had a birthday before.

"what about your family? didn't they, er, celebrate with you?" Sans asked. You didn't respond. A tension began to fill the air.

"Um…Frisk…" Toriel began hesitantly, "what…about your parents? Or…your family? Where are they?"

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, I'm sorry it's a sudden ending. But I wanted to save the next part for the next chapter. Luckily you guys don't really have to wait long since I'm basically knocking these out every day. I should be able to update tomorrow! (Or tonight if I'm feeling up for it but I'm not certain)**

 **Also, if you didn't see, I added art to the last chapter in the end notes. Check out my poorly-done drawing of Frisk with Steven Universe star eyes. (I couldn't resist drawing it)**


	5. Party Games

**A/N: This is the longest chapter yet. It was supposed to be the beginning of the angst and somehow ended up super silly. Oh well.**

 **I love when characters casually break the fourth wall.**

* * *

You were surprised that it had taken so long for the subject to be brought up. In all honesty you hadn't thought about it much. When Toriel had first offered you a home with her the thought of telling her 'no' barely occurred to you. After all, her question to you was "do you have any other place to go?" and the truth of that was…no. You really didn't have anywhere to go.

But being asked about your family now just left you frozen. None of the monsters had pried into your family life previous to falling into the Underworld. In the beginning (when you even had time to think about it in between your reoccurring time nightmares and working to build Ebott) you kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. You waited for them to send you back to your parents. But that day never came.

The only one who had even questioned your reasons for climbing Mt. Ebott had been Asriel and even he had let that go.

Your friends were waiting for your answer, though. The longer you took, the more worried they became. You didn't have a choice but to answer this time.

You swallowed around your suddenly dry throat. "They're…at home…I think." You hadn't exactly called to check in on them or anything.

"So they are still alive?" Toriel gasped, shocked by this revelation. You nodded. As far as you knew they were still alive. This answer only seemed to distress them more as Toriel looked to Asgore. Asgore had the same look in his eyes. It was one that you couldn't really understand.

Asgore gently cupped your face and made you look at him. His next words were careful and soft. "Frisk…do you wish to go home? To your parents?"

You stared wide-eyed at him. Did you want to go home? What was really waiting for you there? However…you had left your parents without leaving a note. Were they worried about you? Did they wonder where you had gone? Was there an Amber Alert out there for you somewhere? Had they seen you on the television at all? In the news? And if they had seen you why hadn't they tried to contact you? Were they scared of the monsters?

But that wasn't the point right now.

The point was: did you want to go back to your family home?

…

"…I don't know." You whispered. "Can I….think about it?" You gazed at them desperately. You needed time to think about this but you could already feel an answer in the back of your mind even as your heart protested.

"Of course you can, my child." Toriel said quietly. She had a smile on her face but her voice was subdued like she already knew your answer. Asgore released your face and pressed a kiss to your hair.

A silence reigned for a good few moments. You could see your other four friends looking between you three as if not knowing what to say. Sans was watching you, though. You met his eyes. Had this situation occurred in a different lifetime? You never remembered much after you escaped Mt. Ebott. But Sans would know, right? Would he warn you if it had turned out badly? Did he know about your parents? Had he looked them up if he did? The expression on his face gave nothing away.

"…Well." Undyne said. She still looked rather serious but was trying to regain the cheerful atmosphere, "I guess, um, let's play some games!"

"…Y-yeah!" Alphys agreed. "We have this…um…" she looked at the piñata, "paper…cardboard…donkey thing. To hit."

"HIT A HELPLESS DONKEY?" Papyrus cried. "WHY WOULD WE WANT TO DO THAT?"

"For the, er, candy inside."

"WHAT? THERE'S CANDY INSIDE? THAT'S CRAZY! HOW DO WE PLAY?"

You were thankful that your friends could distract you. For tonight you weren't worry about your family. Tonight was about celebrating your birthday. It wouldn't do to let all these gifts and such go to waste! Sans pulled out a blindfold from his jacket and tied it around your eyes before handing you a large stick.

"What is THAT!" Undyne demanded disgusted. "Kid, why do you always choose a stick to fight with? You can't take out your enemies with that! Papyrus! Fetch the kid a bone!"

You heard an intake of breath next to you.

"SANS NO MORE PUNS!" Papyrus cut his brother off. You heard a click as Sans's mouth shut. The fact that Toriel didn't try to pick up where Sans left off spoke volumes to you.

Soon enough you felt the stick in your hands get replaced with your birthday femur. "NOW YOU CAN PRACTICE! NYEH HEH HEH!" You felt Papyrus's hands on your shoulders and he spun you around. He spun you a bit too quickly because you became nauseous and had to wait for your full stomach to settle before you could make an attempt towards the piñata.

You took a few steps in what you supposed was the right direction and tried to feel with your femur. The moment you felt something solid you took a swing. You didn't connect with anything. "whoa little buddy. i'm not filled with candy." Sans told you. You flushed in embarrassment and turned away to try for another. Your second swing had to you hitting the couch hard. It jarred you more than the couch.

"Oh, should we not at least face them in the right direction?" Toriel asked desperately when your third swing sent something shattering to the floor.

Oops.

"Nah, they're supposed to just have at it!" Undyne said.

"Ohhhh no! My collective Mew Mew figurine!" Alphys cried.

"THAT WAS A GOOD SWING! YOU'RE GETTING BETTER, FRISK!" Papyrus cheered.

You were fairly certain you had broken at least three things. But Undyne and Papyrus were still cheering you on and you were becoming determined.

"Oh dear." Asgore muttered.

"No, I am going to help!" Toriel finally told everyone and you felt gentle hands grab your shoulders and turn you. "Go straight ahead, Frisk."

You took a few steps forward and felt you femur touch something solid. You firmly gripped the bone and swung with all of your might….only to topple onto the floor.

"SANS! YOU CAN'T USE BLUE MAGIC ON THE PIÑATA!" Papyrus yelled, scandalized.

"actually bro you're supposed to. looked it up."

"WHAT? REALLY?"

"makes it a challenge."

"I like it!" Undyne declared. "Keep going, Frisk! Take out your dodging enemy!" She sounded pumped. You felt yourself fill with determination and nodded once in the direction of her voice before you began your assault. You couldn't see your opponent but you could hear the whoosh of the air as it flew past you. You spun around to try to whack it and got one good hit in but it wasn't enough to bust the donkey. Your friends got really into it and began shouting you directions.

It took you a fairly long time and you didn't manage to break the piñata before you became exhausted. You panted and hunched over as sweat rolled down your face. Undyne groaned at your defeat.

"DON'T WORRY, FRISK!" Papyrus pat you on the back. "I LOST THE FIRST TIME I FOUGHT A DONKEY TOO!"

"When did you fight a donkey, Papyrus?" Asgore asked. You pulled off your blindfold.

"IN MY DREAMS!"

"why were you fighting a donkey in your dreams?" Sans asked.

"…I DON'T REMEMBER. BUT IT WAS A TOUGH DONKEY!"

"are you sure it wasn't a dog?"

"….." Papyrus seemed to think about it. "NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT…"

"thought so."

You turned to watch Undyne rip the piñata open with her bare hands. Candy coated the floor and you all gathered around to collect some. "We…were all supposed to try to break it, Undyne." Alphys murmured to Undyne.

"Really? Shit!"

Toriel's hands shot to your ears and covered them. " _Undyne!"_ She hissed. You could still hear them even if their voices were muffled.

"What? Shit, I fucking cursed didn't I? I'm so fucking sorry!"

"YOU'RE STILL CURSING!" Papyrus cried.

"this story is pg-13. i think it's okay." Sans said.

"It is not okay with me!" Toriel huffed, glaring at Undyne. The fish woman bowed her head in shame and scratched behind her fin. When your ears were released she apologized to you.

"swear you won't do it again, undyne."

"SANS, I SWEAR TO GOD!"

"ayyy."

"OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!"

"i knew we were related. you can't miss out on quality jokes. it's in our bones."

Papyrus screamed.

* * *

Eventually everyone calmed down enough to move onto the next game. That day you all discovered that good-natured Papyrus really did have a tolerance limit. Luckily he was far too nice to actually hurt someone but his magic did go a bit…crazy. Every one of you had gone flying into different directions as gravity enacted on you in different ways. Only Sans, considering he had the same magic, was able to counteract his brother's. He also was the one to calm Papyrus down, apologizing. Papyrus's reaction had scared you but Sans had explained once he had brought his brother to another place to chill out for a little while that it was normal for monsters to…break down a little bit if they didn't use their magic often.

"we're made of mostly magic." He explained to you. "humans get angry when they're cooped up for too long. monsters lose control over their magic if it's not used often enough. flairs with the temper."

Undyne made a noise in her throat, gazing at the room Papyrus had been put in to calm down. "I thought that was it. I'll have to work him harder!"

You tugged on Sans's jacket, still worried. He placed a hand on your head. "don't worry, buddo. he'll be fine in a few minutes." He seemed vaguely annoyed but you had a feeling it was with more himself than with Papyrus. "probably shouldn't'a wound him up so much, though…" he added under his breath.

"Um…in the meantime…is-is everyone else alright?" Alphys asked from where she was picking up the pieces of various things you had broken. You quickly moved to go help her feeling guilty.

"Yeah! Does anyone got some STRESS they need to work off?" Undyne asked as she rolled her shoulders. She summoned up a spear. "I could go for a spar!"

Sans left to go back to check on Papyrus. Toriel watched him go. Asgore shook his head. "I think everyone is fine now."

"Shall we try the next game?" Toriel suggested and nodded towards the Twister game. You walked over and immediately claimed the spinner. You were feeling too sick to even bother to try yet (and you had a feeling watching the monsters try to play may be one of the funniest things you would see in your lifetime). You patted the mat to call everyone over.

"How do you play this?" Asgore asked as he gazed curiously at the spotted plastic mat.

"It's a dance thing!" Undyne declared, letting her magic spear fade away. You shook your head. "It's not?"

Toriel picked up the instructions and pulled out her glasses. She then quickly read the instructions and gasped. "Oh! This seems fun!" She looked to you. "Frisk, are you to be our spinner?" You nodded with a grin.

"I AM SORRY!" Papyrus yelled as he returned from his solitary confinement. Sans followed after him watching his brother but Papyrus –though looking a bit weary- seemed back to normal. "EVERYONE I AM SUPER SORRY ABOUT USING MY BLUE MAGIC ON YOU!" He looked at you with sad eyes that clenched your heart in your chest. He seemed like a kicked (skeleton) puppy. "FRISK, YOU ARE NOT HURT? I DIDN'T RUIN YOUR BIRTHDAY?"

You shook your head quickly and grabbed his hand, gazing imploringly at him. He cheered up at your forgiveness. "Hey, man, don't sweat it." Undyne said and slapped Papyrus on the back causing the skeleton to wince. "You need to pay better attention if you want to be a bodyguard!"

Papyrus gasped in horror. "YOU'RE RIGHT! I'LL BE MORE CAREFUL!"

"There you go!" Undyne cackled.

You tugged on Papyrus's hand to get his attention and motioned to the Twister game. "OH! WHAT'S THIS GAME? IS IT LIKE LEAP FROG?"

"How about Toriel explains the rules?" Alphys suggested. She seemed hesitant to participate. You could understand considering how small she was. Toriel gladly explained how to play which got almost everyone excited. Sans tried to back out but Papyrus refused to let him.

"i can't keep up with all these crazy tall monsters." He pointed out.

That was actually a pretty good reason. It wasn't fair when half of you were huge and the other half were small. So you split into teams. The short ones sat out first and decided to be the spinners. Asgore had been reluctant because of just HOW big he was but luckily Alphys had planned ahead for that. She bought two versions of the game so now the mat space was bigger.

It was probably one of the single most hilarious things you'd ever seen watching Undyne, Papyrus, Toriel, and Asgore all tangled up together. At one point Papyrus asked if he could just remove his leg so he could touch a spot. You had been shocked. The skeletons could remove their body parts? That would explain why Papyrus's head came off so easily when-

"nah." Sans said, looking at the rules. "doesn't say you can remove limbs, bro."

"DANG!" Papyrus lamented and instead sidled under Toriel's arching body to barely get a toe onto the red dot.

"You can…remove your limbs?" Alphys asked Sans quietly. She seemed just as shocked as you were.

"we're skeletons. you didn't think we could?"

"W-well I just thought…" She paused, "Actually….that…makes a lot of sense now that I think about it."

Sans winked at you.

You had suggested that the playing monsters should all wear socks (because that's what it says to do in the game) but they had all been scandalized at the thought of bearing their socked feet in front of company. You looked down at your own socked feet. They never seemed to bother anyone before.

Scandalous. . . ?

You didn't understand monsters.

In the end, Undyne had won. Toriel had slipped on the mat and fell into all the others but Undyne with her crazy strength had kept herself upright enough to last through the falling bodies. She had crowed her victory jumping around. "I PLAY WINNER!" She announced and pointed at you three spinners. "GET READY, PUNKS!"

Asgore spun for all of you. Sans fell down after moving his foot on the first round. Papyrus called him out on his cheating. Sans insisted that he honestly slipped. His voice was convincing but all of you knew better. Still, rules were rules. Alphys's tail did wonders to keep her well-balanced but you weren't one to go down easily. Your limbs were longer so you could maneuver around her more. The two of you got twisted into some…interesting positions that made Alphys blush.

Undyne scowled. "Hey! You may have dated once but you can't have her!" She told you.

"FRISK!" Papyrus said, dismayed, "YOU RECOVERED SO FAST FROM MY REJECTION OF YOU? THAT'S….AMAZING! YOU ARE TRULY RESILIENT!"

"What is all this about dating?" Toriel asked.

"remember how i told you frisk flirted with everyone?" Sans asked cheekily.

"Oh yes! They did with me too!" That gave you pause. You hadn't flirted with Toriel in this timeline.

"Left hand green. Golly, Frisk!" Asgore said. He looked amused and uncomfortable. You were beginning to sweat and your coat kept dragging on the ground where your hands were planted. When you moved your hand (both you and Alphys had to hop slightly to get into the right positions) your jacket completely flipped over your head. It was probably for the best because you were becoming very flustered. "If we hadn't had to fight…would you have flirted with me too?"

"PROBABLY! FRISK IS VERY FLIRTATIOUS! THEY MANAGED TO CATCH ME OFFGUARD WITH THEIR ADVANCES!" Papyrus announced.

"I'm so sorry, Frisk." Alphys whispered to you, looking at you from upside down as she lifted your jacket from over your head with her tail.

"Left foot green." Asgore told her and she had to move.

"wow, kid. you've got some moves. i'm kind of offended you made me pay for those dates you took me on." Sans said. Your arms were trembling and your face was hot from more than just the heat. You couldn't even bring yourself to protest the fact that Sans had taken you on those so-called "dates". In fact, all these "dates" you had with everyone were just slander!

"Stop teasing the poor child!" Toriel scolded although you could see the small grin on her face. Great. No help from her, then.

"I feel as if I missed out on a lot of fun times." Asgore lamented. "Right foot blue, young one."

"LIFT YOUR LEG HIGHER, PUNK!" Undyne commanded. "I gave you better lessons than what you're showing us!"

"UNDYNE, DID FRISK FLIRT WITH YOU ON YOUR DATE?" Papyrus asked.

"Y-You went on a date with Undyne too?!" Alphys gasped.

You couldn't take it anymore and both of you collapsed at the same time. Everyone around you burst into laughter as you buried your face into your sleeves. Your flirting wasn't meant to come back to bite you in the butt!

Undyne declared herself the total winner but demanded a match with you anyway. But it was getting late and Toriel decided you needed a shower before you all settled in for the night. She stuffed your clothes into your hands and gently ushered you to the bathroom. You took your time bathing –hoping the topic of conversation had changed by the time you were finished- and, squeaky clean, you returned to the living room to find it transformed.

Back in Alphys's lab in Hotland you had discovered that her bed was somehow able to fold into an extremely-easy-to-draw box. It seemed that now she had recreated that…on a much bigger size. Almost the whole living room was taken up by the largest bed you'd ever seem. Everyone had changed into pajamas of sorts (with the exception being Sans who seemed to think that just wearing his shorts and slippers were fine. Nobody seemed to mind that he was shirtless (and you had never actually seen any of the skeletons shirtless so the sudden realization that Sans was actually a rather….well, bony guy somehow startled you) but apparently when he had tried to wear socks instead of slippers everyone became embarrassed and upset.

You didn't understand monsters.

You hurried downstairs to climb up onto the giant bed. In an effort to actually make it across, you had to walk on the top of it. Wow, this bed was even larger than the ones at that fancy Mettaton hotel! Everyone was heaped into a pile on the bed. You moved and plopped down onto the bed to curl up next to Toriel. She chuckled.

"Let me dry your hair, child, before you catch another cold. It is warm in here but it is still winter!" She took your towel from you and began to gently but firmly rub it on your hair. You closed your eyes and allowed her to do as she wished.

"Here, Alphys! This is the disk!" Undyne called from the end of the bed where she and Alphys were replacing the anime that had currently been in the DVD player with the show you all planned to watch.

You opened your eyes to spy Papyrus and Sans sitting in front of you. Papyrus was half-leaning on his brother from his partially-reclined position. Asgore decided to lay down next to you and sighed as he rubbed his stomach. Judging by the sleepiness in his eyes, he had eaten more while you had been bathing. You grinned at him and he chuckled. You then decided to slip off Sans's jacket from your form and nudged Sans's spine with your foot.

He looked at you upside down. "that time again?" he asked as you held the jacket out to him.

"YOU SHOUD JUST KEEP IT!" Papyrus said.

"like you kept my shirts?"

"YOU WEREN'T WEARING THEM!"

"Papyrus shut up! The show is starting!" Undyne lifted Alphys and jumped onto the bed to drop her into a decent position. They then shuffled around each other to get comfortable. Alphys clapped twice and the lights went out.

Sans pulled on the jacket. For whatever reason it felt right to see him with it on. He being shirtless really shouldn't bother you as much as it did.

With everything settled, you wiggled yourself into a comfy spot laying between Asgore and Toriel. There was a hodge podge of blankets scattered all over the large bed. All of you fit well into it with room to spare. Popcorn was settled in a large bowl in the middle of all of you. Finally it was time to watch anime.

* * *

You weren't surprised when you woke up in a cold sweat with your heart pounding. Your face and eyes were damp and you buried your face into Asgore's chest trembling. You had dreamt of Asriel again but this time it had blended with the few memories Chara's soul had left imprinted in you. You, as Chara, could remember what being friends with Asriel was like. You remembered the happy times you had as a family. You remembered baking pies with your friend and picking flowers.

You remembered how Chara had been planning to gain a monster soul ever since they learned of the power they could have.

You shuddered and gripped Asgore's shirt tighter. Chara had tried to kill the unsuspecting king. They had laughed it off as an "accident". You remembered –as Chara- being frustrated at the failed attempt. Looks like you had to manipulate Asriel instead.

You released Asgore and sat up rubbing your eyes. The darkness was heavy but the streetlamps outside the house added enough light for you to glimpse the vague shapes of your friends. Papyrus's loud snores had a comfortable familiarity to them that helped relax you. Asgore and Toriel's softer but deeper breathing also helped. You waited until you could pick out a path and then carefully maneuvered yourself between everyone to go up to the bathroom. You made sure to grab your towel too. You had fallen asleep during the third episode.

Your socked feet were silent across the carpeted floor and up the stairs. There wasn't a single creak. In the distance you could hear cars driving by and the faint sounds of city life. It had been a long time since you had lived in the city. It was never fully dark in the forest of human lives.

You went into the bathroom to both relieve yourself and to wash your face. It had become a ritual after you awoke from nightmares to rinse your face and to look in the mirror. You always had to make sure it was really you especially after nightmares like you had tonight. The boundary between "Frisk" and "Chara" blurred in memories. You hated being Chara. It made you forget what love really felt like even as it was given to you endlessly. Or rather, you knew what love felt like but by the time you had come to the Dreemurr family it was too late for love to penetrate your cold heart. Only the heat of the world burning around you could warm it then.

You shook your head to clear it and stared harder in the mirror. It was your eyes, hair, face, nose, cheeks, lips. Your ears were a little small. Your hair was a little long. Your face was a little pale. But it was all you and that was what mattered. You were Frisk. Frisk was still you.

Satisfied, you hopped down from the stepping stool and turned off the light. You waited for your eyes to adjust before you quietly opened the door and slid out. Your heart jumped violently as two pricks of light stared you. You hunched over panting at the pain, gripping the front of your shirt.

"Sans." You whispered and leaned back against the door. He always managed to scare you when he did that. You would think you'd be used to it by now.

"sorry, pal." Sans said quietly. The lights expanded a little to what you recognized as their normal size. "figured you'd be up."

"You too." You said and joined him. Sans was sitting on the floor so you slid to the floor as well. You sat close enough to press your arms together. His bony arm was a solid presence for you. You nudged him a bit. "No…machine to work on." You added.

Sans shrugged. "my insomnia isn't just from staying up working." You wiggled a bit in your spot to get comfy. He eyed you. "don't stay up on my account."

"Can't sleep." You stated bluntly. This dream was bad enough that sleep wouldn't come too easily yet.

"….yeah." You two sat in a contented silence. It had become like this ever since you two had confessed to each other. There was an easy comradery between you and Sans. Sans wasn't always there to ease your thoughts but it was easier to go to him now. There was very little you two didn't know about each other (you thought). What reservations he'd had about being your rock had for the most part gone away. And in return you were becoming his go-to person. It was hard on him, you knew. He wasn't used to opening up (some of the face he made while reluctantly trying to voice his thoughts made it seem like you were pulling his teeth rather than just sitting quietly to listen) and disliked it. But he made an effort for both of you. It soothed him and it made you feel like your relationship wasn't too one-sided. Sans didn't always treat you like a kid (which, don't be confused, you didn't mind being a kid but sometimes when your nightmares were too much or you talked about past timelines you felt infinitely much older) and that helped make this thing between you easier to deal with. Your relationship with him was different than with everyone else but so was his relationship with you compared to the others. You could never your feelings for him to your feelings towards Asgore or Toriel just like he wouldn't compare you to Papyrus.

But there were some exceptions to your tranquil relationship. Sometimes Sans had bad days where he couldn't look you in the face. One time you had caught him looking at you and his face had been filled with so much disgust and anger you couldn't bring yourself to get anywhere near him the next few days. He never apologized to you and you didn't bring it up. The next time he started acting strange again you gave him space. That face had been added to the ones you already recognized on him.

You were starting to get drowsy again when he finally spoke, "….listen…frisk." You looked at him but he was staring in his lap. You couldn't really see what he was holding, "there's another reason i'm up…" he looked at you now, "are you planning on going back to your folks'?"

You stared at him caught unprepared. Out of everything you hadn't expected him to ask you that. You had completely forgotten about the incident earlier what with everything that had happened. You opened your mouth but then closed it. You still didn't have an answer.

"still don't know? 's fine." He looked back down into his lap and you watched as a light began to expand over his lap. You realized his one eye was expanding enough to shine light. In his lap was a now-familiar NMTT lunchbox. "when tori talked to you earlier…some bells went off. felt familiar. what's that feeling called? what do humans call it?"

"Déjà vu?" You asked.

"yeah. that weird thing. so i went home after everyone fell asleep. tried to see if by some crazy time-shenanigans chance i had made a note of it. apparently not. still nothing from after we got out." He paused. "well. except the stuff i added this timeline." You tilted your head a little to the side. "can't be too safe." He said. Somehow it still stung that he didn't believe you when you said you wouldn't RESET again.

You probably deserved that.

"…any dream explanations?" Sans asked. You shook your head. You still didn't remember much of what happened when you escaped the Underworld either. "any thoughts, then?" You had thoughts for sure. But surely you wouldn't…? No. No point in worrying Sans. You shook your head again.

You could tell he didn't believe you.

You didn't even really believe yourself.

He let it drop, though, and stood up. He then held his hand out to you and you took it to stand. "…kid. whatever you decide to do…just know we're here for you. so. don't do anything desperate." He seemed to be waiting for you to say something. The tension mounted between the two of you as his eyes bore into yours.

There was very little you two didn't know about each other…but there was one major thing you never told him. He probably was aware of the gap in his knowledge about you. A guy like Sans? He wouldn't be able to miss it.

The grip he had on your hand tightened a little. He wouldn't judge you if you told him now. There was too much between you two for him to judge you over your past.

…Perhaps you would tell him another time.

You turned away and walked back towards the stairs, letting your hand slide from his. He let you go. You didn't turn back as you walked downstairs and crawled back into your warm space between Asgore and Toriel. Their breathing was different.

"Are you alright, my child?" Toriel asked you quietly.

"…I had a nightmare, mom." You whispered. She pulled you close to her.

"I am here, Frisk." She whispered back and ran her hand up and down your back.

"…May I join?" You heard Asgore ask modestly.

You reached a hand out towards him. "Dad." You stated simply and he caved, pulling both you and Toriel into his arms. Toriel didn't protest. You didn't know if it was just for you or if she was finally forgiving Asgore but you didn't care at that moment. You didn't know what you were going to do in the morning when you had to make a decision about living with your parents or living with your family. But for now, Toriel and Asgore were with you and that was all that mattered.

The rest could wait until morning.

* * *

 **A/N: Oops. I stand corrected. It got angsty.**


	6. Goodbye

**A/N: So this chapter is a bit short. I promise the next one will be longer. I'm changing the formatting up slightly (expect a lot of flashbacks the next chapter) so I wanted to end it before that moment. Things will be much more interesting from here.**

* * *

When morning dawned all of you ate a hardy breakfast together. Undyne and Papyrus –in an impromptu cooking lesson- decided to cook. For the safety of all of you, anybody not cooking went back out into the living room. Everyone was more reserved this morning after an exhausting evening. Neither Toriel, Asgore, or Sans brought up last night. Sans watched you sometimes but you were too caught up in your own thoughts.

Undyne and Alphys had their jobs to get back to and although they loved their friends they rushed you guys out. You all made sure to help clean up first (your ice cream cake melted in the Hot Fridge because of someone forgetting it was, in fact, a Hot Fridge) but then you were ready to leave. Toriel brought a spare jacket for you to wear and you put it on. Your gifts were put into the trunk of Papyrus's car and Asgore climbed in the back. There was a bit of a discussion over how Toriel would be getting home (she insisted the bus was fine because that's how she got there) but everyone refused. Papyrus insisted she ride with him.

You ended up riding with Sans.

The helmet he gave you was a motorcycle helmet. It made your head feel bulky and heavy. You climbed onto the back of his moped and wrapped your arms around his waist. He felt like he had meat and fat and skin even though he only had bones. You still wondered how he did that. Sans didn't say anything to you as he drove. You didn't mind because you didn't have anything to say to him either. You laid your head against his back and stared down at the seat between your legs as you ignored the cold ripping through your snow jacket. There were moments when the cold would suddenly disappear and randomly reappear. You knew you were passing through some of Sans's shortcuts then.

The moped came to a stop and you looked up to see you had arrived at Toriel's. You found yourself staring at the door. You slowly slid off of the moped and took off your helmet to leave it on the seat. Sans followed you as you approached the house and walked inside. You mechanically took off your boots and outer layers to hang on the coat rack. The house felt empty without Toriel in it.

"….frisk." Sans called. You paused but didn't look at him. "you going back to your parents'?"

You stiffened. You had been avoiding thinking about it. Even now you didn't want to think about it. But you knew you had to eventually. You couldn't keep pretending your parents didn't exist. Now that Toriel and Asgore were aware that they were alive, they would probably tell you to leave. You couldn't bear it if they kicked you out. It was better to choose to leave. It wouldn't hurt as much.

This situation was familiar.

Your silence spoke loud enough for your best friend. He approached you and stood next to you staring at absolutely nothing. His hands were tucked casually into his pockets. You looked down. "well. i'll be the first to say goodbye then."

You wouldn't tear up. You wouldn't.

"…." You glanced up at him to see his eyes closed. You looked away before he opened them. "so. good bye, kid." He turned to go. You began to tremble. Your nose was clogging with the effort not to cry. This is how it would end? Just a goodbye? Your eyes watered and you took a deep breath. You squeezed your eyes shut against the effort to cry. His footfalls stopped. "…frisk. you do know that you can always come back….right?"

Your eyes opened. Could you really come back?

"well….in the end it's your decision. make sure to come visit." You could hear a grin in his voice. "we're your friends, after all."

The door clicked shut.

You were tearing apart relationships left and right.

You walked over to the couch and sat down. Your eyes stared at Toriel's chair in front of the fire place. It wasn't lit right now. You missed the warm flames. You curled up and waited. Toriel and Asgore would be here soon. You would need to say goodbye to everyone. Toriel would have to remove you from her school. You would need to pack. You should probably do that now.

You didn't move.

Half an hour passed before you heard a car pull up outside of the house. You could hear Papyrus chatting loudly. There was the sound of the trunk opening. And then the front door. You hid down into the large couch cushions, not ready to face the future yet. You heard the boot falls as Asgore and Papyrus carried in your presents. Your name was called. You didn't respond.

"…Maybe we beat them here?" Toriel's soft voice suggested from the foyer.

"AW. I WANTED FRISK TO JOIN ME IN A VIGOROUS SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Papyrus bemoaned. Toriel and Asgore shushed him gently.

"Perhaps later, Papyrus." Asgore said. "We need to talk with Frisk."

"ABOUT WHAT?" You swallowed. He sounded honestly confused.

"About their family."

"OH. THAT. WE GET TO MEET FRISK'S PARENTS! THEY MUST BE GREAT PEOPLE TOO! LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES, OKAY?" Papyrus said cheerfully.

You could practically feel the look Asgore and Toriel no doubt shared. "We will see you later, Papyrus." Asgore said.

"I WILL HAVE MY PHONE ON ME!" Papyrus said and then you heard the door shut as he left.

A thick silence filled the house. You were afraid to move. "…Frisk, my child?" Toriel called softly. Reluctantly, your muscles stiff from sitting in the same position for so long, you uncurled and stood up. You padded to the foyer to meet the surprised eyes of your family. You fidgeted and couldn't keep looking them in the eyes.

Toriel sighed, sounding old and tired. "Come, my Frisk. Why don't we all take your presents into your room?" She motioned to your stuff with a small smile. You nodded and picked up some of your presents. Asgore took your bicycle and wheeled it to a different part of the house while you and Toriel took your toys to your room. You placed them down at the foot of your bed and turned to find Toriel sitting on your bed. She patted the space next to her.

You didn't want to talk.

You approached the bed and sat carefully next to her. You could hear Asgore's footsteps in the hall. Toriel wrapped you in a hug and you clung to her. "Oh my child, why are you so sad? Whatever is the matter?"

You couldn't hold it back anymore. A sob escaped you and you buried your face in her dress. "I'm sorry." You whispered in a mantra. The spot on the bed next to you dipped sharply and your bed creaked as Asgore joined you two. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you!" You cried.

"Shhh. Hush, child." Toriel soothed although her voice was beginning to thicken as well. Her paw ran up and down your back. A kiss was placed on your head. "If you wish to return to your parents, we will not stop you."

"Little one, do not cry. We will miss you dearly…" Asgore's forehead found the crown of your head and rested there, "but you will always be welcome back here. Ebott, this house, my house...they are all your home and shall wait for you if you ever wish to return."

You sobbed harder, grateful even as your heart ripped. You felt tears in your hair. You couldn't stop apologizing. You were ripping their family apart all over again. They had already lost two children and now they were losing a third. This felt worse than when you had killed them. This betrayal was worse. Why were they saying you could come back? You couldn't come back. You would just hurt them.

But they wanted you to. You could feel it in the way they both held you. Pressed against both of their chests you could feel the love from both of them. You would no longer live there, but this would always be your home. You could call. You could visit. You were certain that if you only asked, they would let you stay.

You didn't have to go.

But what about your mom? What about your step-dad? Surely they must want you too? Maybe things were different now. You had been gone for so long. You were sad when you had left. Perception can change over time (you knew that far too well now). You must have been imagining that they didn't want you.

You had to go.

You had all agreed that it would be better to wait a day before leaving. You only knew where you had last lived so your hope resided on finding your parents there. If they weren't, Toriel and Asgore assured you that you could stay with them as long as you wanted while you searched for your parents. Being as famous as you are, there wouldn't be any difficulty about it.

You spent the day staying in with Asgore and Toriel and you packed some of your clothes and toys. You didn't need to take all of it because you were determined to return there. You would have to convince your parents to let you stay over sometimes. After all, these were your friends and…and you needed Sans's jacket. And you needed to have a snowball fight with Papyrus. And you needed to train with Undyne. And you needed to cosplay your new outfit with Alphys. And you needed to come back in the spring to help take care of your garden. And you needed to help Asgore plan the trimming of Papyrus's head into the large bush in front of the school. There was too much for you to do so you _needed_ to come back to visit!

The next day you went to visit many of your friends in Ebott. Your school friends were upset that you were leaving them and begged you to come back to play. Lansot gave you their cape with a promise to return it sometime soon. It was another reason to come visit, they said. Papyrus had been ecstatic that you would be seeing your parents again but demanded that you return as soon as possible so that you wouldn't miss him too much. Also to call him and text him. And to follow him on his "Tumblr".

"IT'LL BE LIKE THE UNDERGROUND ALL OVER AGAIN WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO THE CASTLE!" He said. "YOU CAN CALL ME UP AND TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE AND I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING SILLY ABOUT IT!"

He had wanted to go with you originally to meet your human parents but Asgore and Toriel talked him down saying it would be better to do it one-on-one. Parent to parent. He had been disappointed but understood. You were going to miss seeing him daily.

You looked everywhere for Sans, including his lab and his bedroom and New Grillbz, but you never found him.

Together the three of you looked at train and bus routes to find the quickest way to your parents' house. You made sure to make a detour to visit Undyne and Alphys. Alphys had teared up knowing she wouldn't get to see you much. She offered to have you bring a video camera with you so that she could keep an eye on you but you refused with a small smile. You would be following her blog and could text her any time, after all.

Undyne had been worse.

"Hey PUNK! You can't just skip your training!" She scowled. You shrugged at her helplessly. You could always try to keep up the training at home- "That's not GOOD ENOUGH! _I'M_ SUPPOSED TO TRAIN YOU!" She teared up some. "What about our spa day?! Your piano lessons! Your COOKING LESSONS? HUH?!"

You threw yourself into her arms and hugged her tightly. Her hug felt more like she was trying to squeeze the life out of you (and you momentarily panicked thinking she would throw you in the trash or snow wrestle you like Papyrus had told you about before but she did neither) and kissed your temple. "You have to come see us! Especially Papyrus! And me! And Alphys! Hell, just come see all of us! Soon, you hear me?"

You nodded enthusiastically. You were choking up some. She looked like she was having trouble keeping her tears at bay. Alphys was blowing her nose loudly nearby. "It'll suck not having you right down the road anymore, kid! But we'll be right here –or in Ebott! – if you ever want to come stay for a while! So make sure you keep in touch!"

The sun was high in the sky when the bus the three of you were riding on began getting close to your old house. You lived in a city at least two hours away from Mt. Ebott. The skyscrapers towered over the hillsides that could be seen in the distance. You could barely see Mt. Ebott. You felt so small. Your house was part of an apartment complex off of a major highway. There were plenty of restaurants and facilities nearby. It was fairly high-end, you knew. There had been kids in your old class that had envied you.

The code you had to the front security door still worked so you didn't have to buzz in. The security guard had gaped at you as you passed. You had expected to see a "Missing Child" poster on the guard's corkboard (you had seen them before) but you didn't see one there now. Maybe they had given up on finding you.

The three of you had to take the stairs up to the eighth floor because the elevator wouldn't be able to fit or support all of you. You counted the doors dreading the approach of your door. You didn't want to leave. Asgore and Toriel had been trying to maintain a pleasant if not stilted conversation the whole time but you barely wanted part of it. This city didn't hold fantastic memories for you. It all felt cold.

Finally you pulled your group to a stop. You stared at the number on the door to your apartment and put down your suitcase. You couldn't bring yourself to knock.

Asgore placed an encouraging hand on your back. "Go on, my child." He said gently. "I am sure your parents have missed you dearly."

"We are right here with you." Toriel added. Their eyes looked so sad. They won't be with you much longer.

You raised your hand and knocked.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm already starting on the next chapter. If I finish what I wanted to tonight, I promise to post it tonight. If I don't, then expect it in the afternoon (because I'll be home from work then) so expect it! I already know where I'm going from here.**


	7. Frisk

**A/N: Quick aside here:**  
 **Frisk's parents will be calling them by gendered terms (he, her, she, him, etc.) but don't be confused. I'm not assigning a gender. It'll make better sense in context but they like to jump around a lot. It can be a bit confusing but hopefully it'll clear up next chapter or so. Frisk still has "ambiguous gender" as their label for this story.**

 **Also this next chapter or two will be following a similar format as this one. Maybe only this one and the next. I'm not certain.**

* * *

 _One of your earliest memories as of your grandparents. You never remembered the exact age you were but you guessed that you were four or five when you started school._

 _You weren't an especially brave child. The dark scared you and you didn't like strangers. You were terrified of being lost or left behind in a sea of people –after all, there were so many people in the city- and you didn't really like sharp things. But when you entered class for the first time you were surprisingly calm. Everything here was colorful and loud with children –kids your age!- running amok, crying, and playing with each other. Some of the adults were talking and others were walking around with their children to explore the toys together._

 _It was….a bit overwhelming._

 _Your hand was being held tightly in your mommy's hand as you both stood just inside the doorway taking everything in. You looked up at her. You remembered that her hair was blonde then and in a bun. The other parents had stared some at her. In retrospect she seemed unhappy and nervous._

 _Your mommy kneeled down to your –admittedly tiny- height and gently gripped your shoulders. Your mother had the prettiest eyes. "Now Frisk," she began in her soft voice, "do you remember what I told you about this place?" You nodded. You had seen places like this on tv before. "Good!" She was pleased. You liked your mommy's smile. You didn't get to see it often enough. "Your grandma and grandpa will be picking you up after school, okay?" You made a face. You didn't particularly like grandma and grandpa. Your mommy patted your cheek a little. "Be good!" She stood up and, before you could protest (wait! Wasn't she staying with you?), she exited the room._

 _You tried to run after her but another family blocked your way. When they had moved, you couldn't find your mommy. You couldn't remember how you got in to the classroom._

 _You didn't remember your first day of school, but you remember being picked up by your grandparents.. You recognized your grandpa's scratchy voice before you'd actually seen them. It had been a relief to know that someone really was coming for you._

 _In the car you considered telling your grandparents about your day but thought better of it. They didn't seem to like you talking. "Do not speak unless spoken to!" They would say. Your mommy didn't seem to mind your talking but you guessed that grandma and grandpa just didn't like a lot of noise. They had a tv but you weren't allowed to watch it. They never turned it on when you were over. You didn't understand why you couldn't watch cartoons. You were only allowed to play with your toys or read books. Your toys weren't allowed to make noises._

 _One time when you had thrown a tantrum your grandma had spanked you and you had to sit facing the corner on a stool that was too short and uncomfortable for a very long time. If you made any noise or if you tried to ask if your time-out was over they would say, "Now your time is starting over again!"_

 _You learned it was better not to talk._

* * *

You knocked on the door. You could hear a tv going from within the apartment. Did they hear you? Perhaps you should knock again. Toriel took the initiative instead and knocked this time. He hand allowed for a distinctly louder knock. It made you start in the relatively quiet hallway. The elevator dinged nearby.

Finally you heard footsteps approach. Toriel and Asgore straightened next to you (or as much as they could, in Asgore's case). You heard a soft "Oh!" before the door unlocked and opened. You stared as your mother came into view but her eyes were on Toriel and Asgore. Despite the fear on her face, she was just as pretty as you remembered her. Her hair was black now and hung in a wave down her back. She didn't look much older than you remembered but then she always wore quite a bit of make-up. She was only thirty years old and in the prime of her youth.

"H-hello…?" She whimpered. The only real color on her face was the dark red of her lipstick and the blush on her cheeks.

Toriel smiled kindly. "Hello. I am Toriel and this is Asgore and we believe this is your child?" Her hand was a comfort on your back.

Your mother's eyes finally found yours and she teared up slightly. "Oh, my little boy!" She cried, falling to her knees to wrap you in a hug. You were frozen with shock. She actually missed you? "Oh Frisk, you're finally home!"

You looked to Asgore and Toriel desperately. There was pain and happiness in their eyes. You looked away and carefully hugged your mother back. Her body was a little cold under her shawl. You wondered if it was because she was afraid or if the heater wasn't working in the apartment.

Your mother finally released you. Her eyes were red but they kept darting nervously back to your friends. Asgore cleared his throat. "May we come in, please?" Your mother looked alarmed at the very thought and she glanced behind her.

"Ah…yes. J-just a moment please. I will get my husband!" She darted back inside calling for your step-father.

"Golly, your mother is a pretty human, Frisk!" Asgore complimented in a low voice.

"We see where you get it now, little one." Toriel ran a teasing hand over your face. You flushed with pleasure. You had never been called pretty before. Your mother has always been the pretty one. You were just Frisk.

Your mother returned with your step-father. Your step-father was an unassuming man the same age as your mother. He had light brown hair that was thin and looked soft. He kept it trimmed neatly along with his goatee. In his own way you could see how he would be handsome too. His light eyes seemed stunned and slightly horrified to see monsters at his door. His face paled quickly. He cleared his throat.

"U-um, yes. Hello." He greeted.

"Howdy!" Asgore greeted back, smiling.

"Please…come in." Your mother said and you picked up your suitcase before you entered with your surrogate parents on your heels. It was finally time for them to talk.

* * *

 _"Frisk, go do your homework." Your grandfather commanded you as soon as you all arrived home. You stared at them with wide eyes. Homework? But…you didn't have homework!_

 _"But…" You tried to tell them but your grandmother cut you off,_

 _"Do not talk back, child!" You jumped and bowed your head. You didn't want to get spanked. "Go!" You hurried with your small backpack (it only contained your favorite toy and a coloring book along with crayons) over to the corner where your other toys were. It was "your" corner. You placed down your stuff and pulled out your coloring book. Maybe that was your homework? You colored earlier, you think._

 _Your grandfather sighed and you heard the telltale click-click of his lighter as he lit up a cigar. You didn't like the smell of the cigar. It made you cough and then you would get in trouble for being too noisy. "Honestly, why do we have to take care of this kid? We only had one child for a reason."_

 _They were talking about your mommy again._

 _"Stupid child. Getting knocked up by that whore of a man!" Your grandmother complained. The cigar smoke never seemed to bother her. You pretended you weren't listening. "I don't want to deal with a grandchild. I'm too young to be a grandma!"_

 _"You look wonderful…for a grandmother." Your grandfather joked._

 _"That's so sweet of you. I may have to kick your ass."_

 _"Any time, dear." You could hear them kissing. You made a face at your green and blue duck. Kissing was gross._

 _They always sounded so sweet with each other. They never talked like that to you. It's probably because you're too noisy. They sometimes give you ice cream or candy if you're nice and quiet. And say please and thank you. Usually you can get by without getting yelled at._

 _You wondered when mommy would be home tonight._

* * *

Your parents' home didn't look much different from the last time that you had seen it. The white walls were covered with art and pictures of family and friends. You recognized your grandparents in front of their home across the seas. There were a number of pictures of your mother from various photo shoots. She looked skinnier in a lot of them. There weren't that many pictures of you, but then again there never really was any. You didn't get your picture taken a lot.

The furniture of the house was all sleek and modern. The couch and chairs were all metal and black leather. It was expensive and hard to move any of it. It somehow really fit how you viewed your parents. Every time you saw anything similar to the furniture, it made you think of them. The kitchen was small, though, in comparison to the rest of the house. Your parents preferred to eat out more than in. There were large windows that allowed everyone inside to view the main street outside and the other tall buildings nearby. The view was actually rather dreary if you really thought about it. There was a thin white carpeted flooring that went everywhere in the house except the bathrooms and the kitchen. On days where it was really sunny the house could be rather blinding which is why your parents kept hanging up pictures on the wall.

The television was newer, though. It was a wide screen with stacks of DVDs by it. There was a nice sound system with speakers that were hidden in the corners of the rooms. The television was currently playing a CD of soft jazz music. Jazz music was a preference of your step-dad rather than your mother's. Your mother must be in a good mood if she was allowing it to play without much fuss.

Toriel and Asgore decided to stay standing considering the furniture wasn't built for large monsters. Both of them were taller than your parents. Asgore didn't have to hunch quite as much in the apartment but he still had to be careful with his horns so as to not scrape the ceiling. They didn't seem super impressed with the house like most people who visited for the first time but then again they had lived in a castle before. The castle was much more interesting than this apartment.

Your parents stood awkwardly on the other side of the room. Your mother looked so small compared to the monsters but she had always been reserved. She wasn't as quiet as you but she didn't talk a whole lot either. Your grandparents didn't like noise, after all. You weren't the only one who would be scolded for being too noisy. You just think that your grandparents like to hear themselves talk instead. They kind of reminded you of the Ice Caps.

You were left hesitantly between the two couples. You weren't sure who you were to join so instead you just sat down on the nearest seat and waited.

Toriel spoke first, "It is a pleasure to meet Frisk's parents." She didn't sound entirely sincere but you could see she was really trying. She was using that voice she used when talking to people from other countries that she didn't particularly like nor dislike, "As I have said to your wife, I am Toriel and this is Asgore." Asgore nodded his head carefully, watching his horns.

"Ah, er, yes." Your step-father said. He seemed to be gathering himself a bit but he still looked nervous. "We've seen you on the television. You're….monsters."

"Yup!" Asgore said. He seemed the most cheerful out of the whole lot. It helped to relax you some. "Frisk has done all of us monsters a great service by breaking the barrier and finally letting us return to the Overworld!"

"A great service." Your mother agreed objectively. "And you have had my baby this whole time?"

Asgore flinched a little, looking repentant but Toriel only lifted her head a bit. She still had a pleasant smile on her face. "Frisk never told us about you!" She replied kindly. You felt as if you were witnessing an overly-personal game of politics. "We have only found out recently that you are still alive."

"You thought us dead?" Your step-father asked.

"Frisk has been living with me for a number of months now. If they had any parents I would have thought they would wish to return to said parents…but they wanted to stay with me." You felt guilty even if it didn't seem like Toriel was trying to make you feel that way.

Your mother shot you a look you couldn't quite understand. "Frisk has always been a good boy. I'm sure he just wanted to make sure you were all…settled in….before he returned home."

"Perhaps." Toriel agreed neutrally.

Asgore looked nervously at his ex. Could he sense the same tension that you could? "Ah, jeez, well. Nevertheless they have informed us of you and told us of their wish to return here." He paused. "Do you maybe have some tea to serve?" He asked it in a slightly incredulous way, as if it was a bit scandalous that they hadn't offered any refreshments.

"No, I'm afraid we don't." Your mother said.

"I'm sorry. We don't drink much tea here." Your step-father soothed.

"Ah. Frisk loves tea, do you not?" Toriel asked you. Her smile was a lot kinder as she faced you. You still felt nervous. You nodded.

"Is that so." Your mother said disinterestedly. "I am glad to have you home, Frisk." She also turned to you and her eyes softened. "You always come home."

Where else are you supposed to go?

Your step-father cleared his throat to draw attention back to him. He did that a lot. "We want to thank you for returning Frisk so us. It's been difficult not having her here with us." Your mother shot a glare to your step-father that he ignored. "We looked everywhere for her."

"I still can't believe he," she stressed the word, "wandered all the way to Mt. Ebott! You must have gotten on the wrong bus, sweetie!" She said to you. You didn't respond.

"We love Frisk dearly, friends." Asgore said looking slightly confused by everything. His face was starting to morph into his more serious king mode. He stood a little straighter and tucked his arms behind his back. In his woolen sweater and cloak he looked quite regal. "So before we leave…we just wanted to know a bit about their family. We also want to make some arrangements."

"Arrangements?" Your step-father asked with a raised eyebrow. You recognized his businessman look. He often wore it when he hosted parties.

"Yes. As you are probably aware, Frisk is the ambassador of monsters. As such, they have to be able to meet with the human leaders. They have been such a help and although they will not be living with us anymore, we wish for them to still help with negotiations." Asgore told them.

"Ah…oh!" Your mother gasped. She paused to think and then her eyes brightened. "Yes, of course! We will, of course, be going with them to all of the meetings!"

"That's wonderful!" Asgore smiled.

"I assume you shall be there as well?" Your step-father asked.

"Yes. We, along with some of Frisk's other friends, represent the monsters. We were the king and queen before in the Underworld." You noticed that she didn't mention that they had separated. Somehow Toriel and Asgore seemed more like a team than usual.

"I see."

"We also have another request…but this time for you, Frisk." You blinked in surprise as Toriel and Asgore turned to you. Toriel came to kneel in front of you. "Little one, you are always welcome at our house. If you ever wish to come visit, please do not hesitate to call. Or text. Or…post a 'status'?" You didn't even have a Facebook. You understood though. "If your parents cannot drop you off, I am certain your friends would be happy to come get you."

You looked to your mother who was watching the exchange silently. She didn't grant permission but neither did she object to it so you looked back at Toriel and nodded. You held up your cell phone to show her. She smiled at you before she stood back up and faced your parents again.

"So. Tell us about yourselves." She suggested.

* * *

 _You knew at age six that your family wasn't the richest. Your mommy had to work a lot to support you and her both and your grandparents were often left watching over you. Many times you didn't see your mommy. There were nights when your grandparents couldn't watch you for one reason or another and instead just dropped you off at your apartment. They had made you a spare key and told you to never lose it._

 _You got a keyring and added the key to it. It was your prized possession. It was your only way to get into your house._

 _The times your grandparents dropped you off at your house became more frequent. Sometimes they gave you money and other times they bought you some fast food. Usually you just went inside and scrounged for whatever food you could. You were reluctant to use the microwave because you barely knew how to work it and you couldn't read the instructions on the food very well. You knew how to boil water but you kept hurting yourself and the pot was heavy so you didn't like touching it._

 _Your mother didn't work as late on the weekends. She would wake up with you and make breakfast –you usually just had cereal but sometimes your mom would treat you with French toast- before she would take you to the park. You played at the nearby park a lot. The other children didn't always play with you because a lot of them seemed to be friends. But there were times they invited you to join. Running around on the playground equipment was your favorite part of the day. Some of the kids were from your class and recognized you and chatted with you._

 _You never really made any friends though. Playing too much exhausted you and you were usually too tired and hungry. This particular park didn't have a water fountain and your mother always forgot to get a water bottle for you so you didn't play a lot so you wouldn't get tired as easily. It made you feel left out sometimes but eventually it stopped bothering you._

 _After the park your mother would take you home and put on the television before she went to shower and dress. Every so often strange men came over after she finished getting ready. You already knew they were her boyfriends. You didn't really like them but you never were rude. They often gave up trying to talk to you when you didn't talk back. They didn't seem to have the tolerance for trying to decipher what you were trying to say without actually speaking._

 _"Don't mind Frisk." Your mother would say. "She doesn't like to talk." That was usually when your mother left with the boyfriend. You wondered if any of them were your daddy. You would spend the rest of the evening watching tv and playing with your toys. You missed your mommy on those nights. She typically wouldn't be home in time to tuck you in or read you a bedtime story. Your night time companion was usually the little glowing skeleton in the corner –a decoration from Halloween that you never put away- that represented your nightlight. It had a top hat and was frozen mid-jig. His name was Mr. Harrington and you thought he was silly with his giant grin meant to be scary but only ended up looking stupidly happy._

 _It was all a little lonely._

* * *

It was getting late. The whole time Asgore and Toriel were there they chatted with your parents about their jobs and such. They tried to learn about your younger years too but your parents usually deflected them. You don't think your parents like Toriel and Asgore much.

You didn't want to see them leave. You wanted to follow them back out of this painfully modern house and go back to the cottages in Ebott. You didn't like this jazz music. But your parents looked relieved to see you home and you owed it to them to stay. You could visit Asgore and Toriel soon.

You followed them out into the hallway while your parents watched from inside. They both hugged you tightly to them. You would miss their great big hugs. Asgore kissed your forehead and his large beard tickled your skin making it itch a little. You smiled at him as you rubbed the spot he kissed to get rid of the scratchy feeling. He chuckled.

"Good bye, little one. I already await the day I will see you again." You nodded at him. You won't cry.

Toriel took you next and kissed your face all over until you were giggling. "Oh, my dear child!" She whispered and pulled you into another hug. "Please come see us soon. I will make you pie. And you will need to show me how to look up that recipe for snails!" She was referring to escargot. "Please text me later. And if you need anything, Frisk, do not wait to call. I will always pick up!"

You sniffed once and wiped your eyes. "Unless a dog takes your phone." You joked. She laughed with you.

"I do not think it will, but it is 'paw'sible!"

"Ca'nine' out of ten, mom!" You whispered back your joke. Toriel's gave a small sob of a laugh. You were relieved that she didn't mind you still calling her mom.

"Good bye, Frisk." She finally released you and stood. They watched you for a moment longer –and you them- before they turned and walked away. Asgore looked back once or twice before they turned the corner.

You turned and reentered your house. The sound of the door clicking shut felt coldly final. Your mother was smiling at you, though. You really did like your mother's smile. Despite everything…you were a little glad to be back.


	8. The Abandoned Quiche

**A/N: STRAP ON YOUR SEATBELTS. YOU'RE GOING ON A FEEL TRIP.**

 **Again I feel that I need to ask you to look at the warnings and tags. There may be triggering stuff. Approach with caution.**

* * *

Your first night home was tense and strange. Although you had lived in that apartment for nearly three years, somehow everything was foreign to you. You kept looking at the tops of the doorframes for familiar horn scratches. Everything was perfectly sized for you. The ceiling and walls felt claustrophobic because of how small the rooms felt. You missed the greenery of the forest in Ebott. It was too quite here even with the sounds of traffic outside. The jazz was getting on your nerves. You missed the sounds of piano and 8-bit music you had become accustomed to in the Underworld.

Your parents doted on you. Or at least, they paid a lot more attention to you now that you were home. Your mother didn't want to leave your side asking you all kinds of questions about what living with monsters was like and what it was like to meet so many important people.

"My big strong boy!" She praised. "You've made mommy so proud!" You had stopped calling her mommy a long time ago but you just smiled softly at her. Apparently you were a "boy" today. That was bound to cause issues with your step-dad just like it had earlier. You had been a "girl" when your mother had dated and married him. It was a quirk of your mother's. She never could remember what your true gender is. That's what happened when she barely changed your diapers when you were a baby. The only reason you even knew that was because your grandparents had complained about it within your hearing range.

Your bedroom was sparser than you remembered. Your bed was still there along with your bed set but most of your toys were gone and so were you clothes. Good thing you had brought some of yours. At least Mr. Harrington was still on the shelf but it looked like his light had burned out. You walked over to pick him up and stared at his ridiculous grin. His smile was definitely like Papyrus's but his general shape was closer to Sans's (minus the bulkier clothing). Somehow it felt scandalous to see the skeleton, though. It was only wearing a bowtie and a top hat.

Your cheeks began to burn and you hid Mr. Harrington behind your lamp. You would need to make some tiny clothes for him. Good thing Toriel had taught you how to sew. You would also need to find a new bulb for him. He was nothing without his ridiculous "spoopy" background. It displayed a ghost on the wall behind Mr. Harrington that reminded you of Napstablook.

You decided to continue unpacking rather than worry about Mr. Harrington. He's been naked for this many years; he can last a while longer. Even if you can no longer look at him the same way.

You hadn't been able to bring a whole lot with you. Most of the stuff in your suitcase was clothing but there were some personal items in there too like your tooth and hairbrush, your favorite shampoo and conditioner, and the rubber ducky that Sans had drawn a permanent scowl on. (It had actually been Papyrus's but after Sans had drawn on it, Papyrus thought it was too rude to bathe with. You took it off of his hands to give it a good home among your large bathtub and the suds you liked to bathe in.) You also had packed your sign language book, the birthday femur, the GREAT PAPYRUS book, a few of your favorite toys Toriel had bought you, and your digital camera. It was unfortunate that you had to leave your bicycle in Ebott. Lastly you pulled out the cape that Lansot had let you borrow. Without much thought you tied it on.

You felt 20% better and 10% more awesome.

Your mother came back in followed by your step-dad as you unfolded the clothing you'd be hanging up in your closet. "Aw," your mother cooed, "look at your cape! Where'd you get that, baby?"

You didn't particularly like being called baby. "My friend." You responded softly.

"How sweet. You look so handsome!"

You nodded your thanks and put your clothes up. Your step-dad sat down on your bed. "Frisk, we need to know when your next meeting is planned. It's very important your mother and I arrange our schedules around yours." You were surprised that even your step-dad was going to mix up his schedule. Admittedly he had the most freedom to do so considering he's a CEO but still. You didn't think that your meetings would matter much to him. It warmed your heart a little.

You abandoned your clothes temporarily to hand him your agenda. Toriel had originally kept your schedule for you (because your agenda was used for school and events rather than politics) but she helped you make a new agenda just for your parents. You had never planned on not going to the official meetings even if you didn't like them. Your step-dad hummed as he flipped through the pages. You returned to your clothes.

"Oh Frisk! What is this!" Your mother held up one of your dresses. It was specifically made for winter and you liked to wear your black leggings underneath of it. You liked it because your sneakers looked edgy with it. What was wrong with it? "No! Absolutely not! I will not have my son wearing a dress!" She said and started to bundle it up.

Alarmed you ran over and grabbed it to stop her. You shook your head pleadingly at her and tugged on it. Your mother glared. "No, Frisk! You are a boy! You can't wear dresses!"

"Just let her wear the dress if she wants!" Your step-father said. He looked annoyed with your mother. Oh god, not another argument. They were actually getting along better, you thought.

"HE will not!" Your mother said.

You took the dress from her. "I won't wear it." You said even though you really did like that dress. Undyne had helped you pick it out when you, she, and Alphys had gone shopping together. You loved her sense of style.

Your mother eyed you for a few long moments. Your step-father looked about ready to argue again for you but your mother sighed. "Okay. You can keep it. I can't fight that face." She cupped your face and kissed your nose. "Just don't wear it okay? Mommy will buy you some nicer clothes for Christmas."

Oh. Christmas. You had forgotten about that holiday. Papyrus had been so hyped up about it wondering if Santa would visit the Overworld. He had been writing letters, you remembered him saying. Toriel had encouraged some of the younger kids to do so as well. You hadn't though because you had everything that you had wanted. That, and you didn't know how to write to Santa. You never celebrated Christmas before. Usually your parents went out Christmas Eve with friends or hosted it at the house. And adult parties were boring.

Maybe your parents would let you spend Christmas with the monsters?

"What's this, Frisk?" Your step-father asked now that the situation was defused. You quickly hid your dress (and all of your more female looking clothing) in your closet before looking at him. He was holding your books. He raised an eyebrow at Papyrus's. The crudely-drawn picture of Papyrus in a chef hat and carrying a puzzle book would probably look strange to those who don't know Papyrus. "You're learning sign language?"

You nodded. You already learned a couple of basic greetings with Toriel and Asgore yesterday.

"That would look good on a résumé!" You….guess so. That's not exactly why you want to learn it though. You tapped the book in question and then pointed at him and your mother.

"You want us to learn?" Your mother guessed. You nodded. "No thank you, Frisk. Our jobs don't need it." She winked at you.

Oh. Guess you have nobody to practice with for a while…

"Get ready, Frisk. We're going out soon to eat." Your step-father commanded and took your mother's hand. He casually tossed your books onto your bed before they both left the room closing the door behind them. You gazed at the books silently for a few long minutes before you grabbed your clothes to finish putting them away.

* * *

 _When you were seven, the money stopped coming in. Your mother was fired from her job and took to crying in her bedroom a lot. You wanted to comfort her but at the same time you were reluctant to approach her. You barely knew why she was crying. You lost your apartment and moved in with your grandparents for a while. Your mom always sobbed quietly in "her" corner of the room. You were afraid if you got too close she would get loud. And your grandparents would blame any loud noises on you. You didn't want to be spanked and forced to sit into time-out._

 _Your mother still had a car though. She would go out every day and leave you at school or home while she looked for a new job. You could tell she was unhappy. She would spend money on magazines and gaze longingly at all of the models in them. Then she would cry. And then she would get upset at herself for crying because it "ruined her face" so she would need to reapply makeup. You thought the people in the magazines were pretty but not worth crying over. You couldn't understand it._

 _One day in the early morning in the summer of your seventh year your mother put you in the backseat of the car and began to drive. You remember that day being very hot in the city but cooler the further you drove from it. There had been clouds in the distance that looked like rabbits and fish. There had also been grey clouds. You remembered thinking that if it rained you could possibly play in the puddles._

 _Your mother drove until city buildings started to turn into suburbs and then into forests. You liked the trees of the forests. It reminded you of swimming (which you didn't do often but liked) and of the parks your mother no longer took you to because it was too far away now. She turned off into the dirt and put the car in park. She was silent and red-eyed as she opened your door and unbuckled you. The way she was acting was worrying you. She took your hand and walked you a little ways to an old wooden bench._

 _She sat you down on it and covered her face. She was crying again. You were distressed. "I'm sorry! Frisk, I'm so sorry. I just wasn't ready for the responsibility." She sniffled and refused to look at you. You were confused._

 _"Mommy?" You asked._

 _"I'll be right back." She responded and turned back to the car. You stayed sitting on the bench, still confused, as she got in and began to drive off. Surely she's coming back, right? She just said she was. But where was she going? Did she forget something?_

 _You waited a long time._

 _You took in your surroundings. Your bench was on the side of the road but you didn't see many cars. The forest loomed over you but it was still bright out so you weren't scared. You looked behind you and felt the hairs on your neck rise as you saw Mt. Ebott. It was a lot bigger up close._

 _You knew the tales of Mt. Ebott. Everyone that could see Mt. Ebott on a normal day knew the story. Apparently children who went up it would mysteriously disappear never to be seen again. The children at school liked to tell stories about why children disappeared there. A child had gone missing there couple months ago. He had been last seen wearing a cowboy outfit for Halloween._

 _You shivered at the thought of getting lost on the mountain and firmly decided to stay put. You studiously ignored the taunting trail that led deeper into the forest. You wouldn't become one of the lost souls!_

 _You kept waiting._

 _It was getting dark._

 _Where was mommy?_

 _She said she'd be right back._

 _The mountain was scaring you. You didn't want to be alone._

 _But you were alone._

 _You called out for someone. Anyone._

 _But nobody came._

* * *

Christmas snuck up on you and before you knew it you woke up. The first thing you did was pull out your phone and check your messages like you'd been doing every morning when you wake up. You had been gone from Ebott for two weeks but everyone kept in contact with you. You often spent long chains of messages on Alphys's blog talking with her and Papyrus and Undyne. You texted Toriel a lot. Whenever you wanted to talk to Asgore you would call but you didn't actually talk much. You wished that you had a computer so you could video chat with people.

This morning it appeared Alphys was up early.

 **ALPHYS updated status.  
*MERRY CRHISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope Santa managed to visit all of you! I know he did for me LOL.**

You grinned and began to type back when your phone beeped with an updated message.

 **ALPHYS updated status.  
*omg I meant Christmas. I'm such a spaz. XOX**

 **StrongFish91 updated status.**  
 ***Omg are you SERIOUSLY UPDATING YOUR STATUS IN BED, ALPHYS?**  
 ***Looks like I need to up my game!**

 **ALPHYS updated status.  
*[sweating nervously]**

 **COOLSKELETON95 updated status.  
*MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! SANTA GAVE ME ALL THAT I WANTED THIS YEAR! MY CAR LOOKS FANTASTIC!**

 **COOLSKELETON95 updated status.  
*ALSO. CAN YOU KEEP IT IN THE BEDROOM? THIS IS TOTALLY AWKWARD.**

 **StrongFish91 updated status.  
*Technically we ARE in the bedroom!**

 **COOLSKELETON95 updated status.  
*OH MY GOD. GROSS.**

You giggled to yourself and decided to quickly say a good morning and a happy holidays.

 **COOLSKELETON95 updated status.  
*THE HUMAN IS ON! HI FRISK!**

Undyne and Alphys didn't respond. Perhaps Undyne actually decided to "up her game". You weren't sure you wanted to know what she meant by that. You sent a greeting back to Papyrus before calling Toriel. Your phone went off again as someone posted again but you ignored it for the time being.

"Hello, this is Toriel." You didn't respond but you smiled. You could hear the smile in Toriel's voice as she continued, "Good morning, Frisk, and Merry Christmas! Have you opened your presents yet?" You shook your head but realized she can't see you.

"Not yet." You honestly weren't sure you had any presents but you didn't say that.

"Oh, well I hope you get some good ones!" She paused. You closed your eyes to savor talking to her. You missed being near her. "…Have you…asked your parents yet?" She asked hesitantly.

You were silent for a few beats of your heart before you said, "I can't." You had asked your parents if you could spend Christmas in Ebott but they had told you no. Apparently you were supposed to celebrate Christmas here with them.

 _"We just got you back and you want to leave again?" Your mother had cried, distraught._

"Oh." Toriel sounded very disappointed. Your heart clenched.

"…I'm sorry…" You whispered.

"No no, please Frisk!" She hurried to reassure, "Of course your parents would want to celebrate the holidays with you! It has only been a few weeks since you have returned to them!" You could hear her moving stuff around. It sounded like wrapping paper. Your presents?

You wanted to go back, though. You were sure that Christmas with Toriel would include a lot of pie and hugs and warmth. Asgore would wear silly fake reindeer antlers even though he had horns already. Sans would dress up as Santa. Papyrus could be his elf. You could go to visit the reindeer monster in the Underworld (where it stayed because it preferred to be alone) and say hello to it. It would've been fun.

"How did you sleep last night, my child?" Toriel changed the subject. In truth you were still having plenty of nightmares. Many times they liked to repeat themselves because of the countless times you followed the same steps in alternate timelines. You no longer could use Sans's jacket to sleep peacefully. You woke up screaming sometimes but your parents never seemed to hear. You would curl up in the cape that Lansot let you borrow and stare at (the now clothed) Mr. Harrington until you could either fall asleep again or wake up enough to do something else. You practiced your sign language a lot. You wished that you had a piano to practice on.

You chatted with Toriel for a little while longer yet before you made promises to call later to talk to all the others. Apparently later on that day they were going to have dinner together.

"Sans?" You asked quietly.

"Has he still not talked to you?" Toriel huffed in annoyance. "That skeleton will text you to mess with you but will not call you? I will have words with him!" Was Sans angry with you?

Eventually you needed to hang up because you had to go join your family. Luckily they were late risers so you had time to talk to your friends first. Your parents didn't seem to like the monsters very much. You wondered how they would react when they would meet them at one of the meetings. You chatted briefly with your other friends online before you got up to continue your day.

* * *

 _You had crawled under the bench because you were scared. The forest wasn't nice at nice. It was loud with noisy bugs and things moving in the bushes you couldn't see. The bench was your only protection besides the stick that you had picked up. You had already cried once but it just made you thirsty and your head ache._

 _When was mommy coming back?_

 _Finally through the darkness you saw headlights. You wondered if it was the bus finally coming to the bus stop. You crawled out from under the bench and the vehicle slowed to a stop. It was a van. A man jumped out of it and approached you. You held your stick close just in case._

 _"Kid, what are you doing out here? Where's your parents?" The stranger asked. You shook your head. Tears began to well up again. The man's face softened and he crouched down to your level. He was an older gentleman with grey hair and a silly beard. He reminded you of a wizard. "Are you hurt? Did you get lost?"_

 _You shook your head. "I wanna go home!" You cried softly._

 _"Do you know where you live?" You nodded and told him the name of your city as well as your address. He gaped at you._

 _"That's nearly two hours away! What happened to your parents?"_

 _"Mommy said she would be right back…but…" You hiccupped._

 _"Oh, you poor soul." The man murmured and held a hand out to you. "Come with me. Do you have any place to go?"_

 _"My grandma and grandpa…"_

 _"I will take you there, don'cha worry."_

 _You were lucky that the man really was just willing to help you. You knew now that you were older that not all people were like that. There were terrible people out there who would do bad things to you. But at the time the sweet old man just wanted to help you home and that's what he did. He had taken you to your house's door and knocked. Your grandparents had been horrified to hear the story and had thanked the man before taking you inside. They had hustled you into the bathroom._

 _"Take a bath, Frisk. We will get you something to eat." Your grandma said in a gentle voice. You liked her when she used that voice. It usually meant she was going to be nice to you. You nodded and she closed the door. While you were bathing you heard your grandparents yelling at your mother. You had sat up straighter hearing your mother –thank god she was alright!_

 _"You can't just ABANDON your child!" You heard your grandfather yell._

 _"I didn't know what to do!" Your mother shouted back. She sounded like she was crying again. "I can't support both of us!"_

 _"You will NOT shout at us like that!"_

 _"Frisk is your responsibility! If you didn't want a child then you shouldn't have gotten pregnant!"_

 _"If you want to live under our roof, you will do right by that child!"_

 _"What do you even care?!" Your mother demanded in a quieter but just as distressed voice. "You don't even like him!"_

 _"Because that is our grandchild whether we like it or not and you will NOT harm that child!"_

 _That night you finished bathing, were given something to eat, and sent to bed. You pretended to sleep as your mother sobbed at the foot of your bed and apologized over and over to you._

* * *

 **A/N: One more bowl of Honey Nut Feelios before bed. :3c**


	9. New Year's

**A/N: Dammit guys, I told you to buckle your seatbelts for the Feel Trip but some of you didn't move fast enough and now you got bumps and bruises!**

 **On another note, I want to thank all of the people who have reviewed thus far! I absolutely love reading all of your reactions (and occasionally cackling over your misery)! To those of you who joined us here and didn't notice the first two stories because this can be read alone...you should check those out. I assure you they're worth it despite the shitty summaries.**

 **Last note before we continue, I remember saying that I was only expecting this story to be, what, 7 chapters? HA. omg yeah right, Wolfie. I mean, it doesn't cause any harm that this story is certainly longer than expected but it's still hilarious how wrong I was.**

 **Anyway onto the story.**

* * *

It was January now. Your parents were throwing a New Year's party and the new year had just rung in. All night you had to wear a tuxedo that you didn't think looked good on you (you'd rather have worn a bowtie than this stupid tie) and tightly-fitted shoes. You were inside the house. Why did you have to wear shoes? Your shoes were as shiny as your mother's jewelry and that was really saying something.

All night long you were introduced to people you didn't know. You hadn't even bothered to try to remember them. They all carried champagne and grinned at you as your mother bragged about your title as monster ambassador. The whole situation was made worse because you were starting to be able to tell which of these people actually disliked monsters. They would subtly turn up their noses or make faces. Sometimes they said cruel backhanded compliments about the monsters they had seen (some of those monsters were your _friends_ ).

There were, however, people on the other side of the spectrum that delighted in meeting the monster ambassador. They told you that monsters fascinated you and they liked to gush about the ones they had met. You could tell when they were being serious and it made you smile in return. They were rather fascinated with monsters and tried to ask you questions (that you would have answered) but your mother kept steering you away. You couldn't find your step-father in the crowd.

Your mother was extremely beautiful tonight. She wore her best pale peach dress that fit her body like a second skin. Her makeup –which she'd worked hard on for most of the afternoon- was perfect and hadn't faded with time. Her hair was wavy tonight and shimmered like Waterfall in the party lights. She was smiling a lot which really brightened her face to display her youth.

You were unhappy, though. Besides the fact that you didn't like your outfit, your hair was done up in a way that was supposed to make you look more "masculine". It gave you a headache but it was either that or get it cut and you liked your hair the way it was. You also disliked how crowded your house was. It was stuffy and loud and you wanted to open a window or something. The kaleidoscope of scents –musk, perfume, alcohol, body odor- made you dizzy and slightly nauseous. You couldn't escape to your bedroom because your mother kept showing you off.

You were starting to feel like one of those prized dogs.

Luckily your mother eventually ran out of people to show you off to and you were released. The first thing you did was go into the bathroom and breathe a sigh of relief. It was cooler in the bathroom. You took the time to relieve yourself before you pulled out your cell phone. You blinked in surprise to see you had a missed phone call. You played the message and put the phone to your ear.

 **"hey kid."** Your heart jumped with joy. It was Sans! **"sorry i haven't called….been busy."** You wouldn't have believed him about being "busy" but his voice was off. He sounded cheerful enough but you could also hear the exhaustion in his voice. **"…..guess you aren't gonna pick up. that's cool. you might be sleeping or partying with your folks. i'll leave a message."** You can't believe that you had missed his call. This reminded you quite a bit of failed timelines. It felt great to hear his voice again, though.

 **"so. it's new year's. apparently humans like to shoot fireworks to celebrate. that crazy robot mettaton was hosting in…new york, was it? there had been ice growing on him, heh heh. …..not much has happened here since you left. you've been keepin' up with everyone so that's good…everyone still misses you, though. it's been….a month or so? since you left. tori feels down quite a bit but your phone calls cheer her up. she got mad at me for not calling…..sorry."** He stopped. You could faintly hear the sound of metal on metal. Was he in his lab? **"…..well. you're gettin' a long message from me instead. close enough." He muttered before continuing in a louder voice. His forced cheerful tone was back. "undyne and pap keep tryin' to make plans to visit you but tori and asgore won't tell us where you live. said you needed time to settle. let us know, okay?"**

You curled up against the bathrub and cradled the phone to your ear. You definitely would tell them your address…and also demand they let you know beforehand when they plan to visit. It wouldn't be good for anybody's health if a bunch of monsters showed up at your secured apartment building.

 **"….how have you been, pal? i never actually asked. we used to talk all the time but now…..well. that's my fault anyway. heh."** Something was clearly bothering him. **"i hope everything is swell for ya, buddy. i've been workin' on the machine and such. my bro keeps hassling me to get a job…but i don't feel like it."**

There was a long silence on his end. If you couldn't hear the soft sounds of his breathing and natural static of the phone you would've thought he had hung up. **"er….listen. just…um….ah, shit."** He grumbled something to himself that you couldn't catch. You were surprised because he was pretty good at watching his language around you. **"look,"** he tried again. His words were rushed and sounded slightly annoyed, **"you're not the only one with problems relating to the time stream, kid. i hate that you got me to open up. hell, i hate that i'm even saying this. i hate saying stuff like this. real frustrating that you aren't hanging with me in the middle of the night. s'real lonely."** There was a pause before the phone suddenly clicked off. You couldn't tell if the message ran out of space or if in a fit of frustration he hung up on you. Either was possible. It wasn't easy to rile up Sans but when you did he could be just as impulsive as Papyrus.

You saved the message and then immediately called him back. The phone rang a number of times before it went to voicemail. You took a breath, disappointed. "…..I miss you too." You tried to think of something else to say but couldn't find any more words. Your message was dragging on in silence. Maybe he would pick up if you waited long enough? You wanted to ask him if he would be at the upcoming meeting. You wanted to ask how the machine was coming. You wanted to ask him why he hadn't called you before Toriel scolded him.

Instead, you said nothing and eventually the message time ran out.

* * *

 _You stopped calling your mother "mommy". You understood that what she had done to you was bad and wrong. Your trust for your mother had decreased significantly. You were afraid that if you rode with her in the car that she would leave you wherever you stopped. She kept apologizing to you. Your grandparents were nicer to you in an effort to comfort, but it was hard to get past it. The worst part wasn't even the abandonment._

 _The worst part was learning you were unwanted._

 _The next few months consisted of your grandparents taking direct of care for you. They still didn't like you being noisy but you had become a quiet child and thus didn't get into trouble as often as you used to. You were given toys and clothing if you needed them. Your grandparents preferred home cooking so you all had dinner every night together._

 _It was…fine._

 _Your grandmother had landed a job for your mother working with her. You once again barely saw your mother between school and her work hours. When you turned eight you and your mother moved out again. The apartment was kind of creepy. You didn't like being home alone but between the tv, Mr. Harrington, and your toys you were able to overcome the worst of the nervousness. School kept you busy with your homework. You studied hard to learn how to read well. You practiced by reading your mother's magazines. You noticed that she sometimes appeared in them now. You felt happy for her as she would hang them up on the walls. She looked pretty in them._

 _It was around this age that your mother began to date again. The men were farther in between than before, though. They always dressed nicely and smelled of fancy cologne. They would buy you things and take you to get food so they could get on your mother's good side. You thought they were fine but you never expected them to stick around long._

 _Your mother would kneel in front of you and give you a peck on the nose before she would leave. "Mommy's off to get us a rich daddy, baby. Then we don't need to worry about money anymore! Be good while mommy's away!" And then she would take off. Sometimes she left for a couple days straight. If either of your grandparents visited while she was gone and you were home alone, they would become angry with your mother._

 _Because you were left home alone a lot, you had to teach yourself things. The house would get messy so you tried to make it bearable. It was still messy, though. You weren't very tidy yourself. More often than not your mother left money on the counter for you to buy food. You learned how to use the microwave and taught yourself to ride a bicycle that your grandparents had given your mother that she never used. She didn't have a need for it. You had fallen off quite a bit and cried a lot but through determination you learned to ride. You would go to the corner store to buy dinner after work. You became used to taking yourself to the bus stop._

* * *

You couldn't stay in the bathroom all night no matter how much you wanted to. People needed to use the restroom and frankly you were tired of your mother's cactus ignoring you. Tsundere plants were cute but you'd had enough. So you reentered the fray.

It was late and you were tired but the party was still going. You wandered around without much purpose. It was like there was only alcohol to drink. Your headache was getting worse so perhaps you should get a drink of water.

You entered the kitchen and opened to fridge for a bottle of fancy water. You didn't know what made the water fancy; you just knew that it was. You opened the bottle and stayed hidden in the corner of the kitchen. You could hear your step-father laughing somewhere. Some women nearby were gossiping about your mother. Apparently they didn't like how she had been showing you off. Every year people complained about your parents being "show-offs" with their money but the same people always came back.

Humans were confusing. You were certain Papyrus would have a great time here. You could imagine him dancing in and out of groups of people trying to chat with everyone. You could see him dragging Sans with him so that he could introduce his brother. Sans would look laidback and grin at everyone and probably cause more than a few people to groan with his jokes.

Undyne and Alphys probably wouldn't like it here, though. Undyne would consider everyone here too stuck up and prissy while Alphys would generally hate everything about this place. You felt the same, after all.

You nearly grinned at the thought of Asgore standing awkwardly in the middle of the room casually talking with the people around him but too big to really move around without bumping into everyone. Toriel would only fair a little bit better. She was always good at working a crowd. It must be because they were king and queen for so many years.

You were lonely.

You left the kitchen finding nothing there interesting and took a seat in the corner of the living room. You were tucked far enough away from people but close enough that you couldn't be scolded for being anti-social. You hoped that your mother wouldn't find you. You were certain she would just want to get you to talk to a bunch of people again. She and your step-dad had already started arranging interviews with some of the media people here. You would have to tell a lot of people your story over and over again.

You hated interviews. You had been to them with your mother and step-father before in the past but at least those hadn't been focused on you. This time the interview and the following pictures would be focused around you and your family. You had been accosted for interviews and photos before at some of your meetings with the monsters but you had always rejected them. Toriel and Asgore would back you up and gently tell the people that you weren't ready to talk to anyone. It was a relief that you no longer had.

"Hello." You started and looked up to see a familiar woman in front of you. She had short brown hair and thick black glasses over her dark blue eyes. "There you are, Frisk." She said. You recognized her from meetings with important people. She actually wasn't in politics that much, but she was one of the leaders in the progressivism of integrating monsters into human society and vice versa. She had a strange name that you could never really remember. You did remember her first name was Alia though. Or something like that.

You waved at her and she took it as an invitation to join you on the floor. She was dressed comfortably rather than gussied up. Her outfit looked nice. You liked her because she never forced you to talk. She was one of the people you saw honestly give as much curtesy to the monsters as the monsters gave the humans.

You tilted her head at her, "What…are you doing here?" You didn't see her as the type to come here. You didn't even know she was friends with your parents.

"My husband." She responded simply and motioned into the crowd. You spotted the familiar blond hair of her husband. He was very pretty and his hair was a shade of yellow you hadn't known occurred naturally. He seemed more like the type to be at one of these things although he looked uncomfortable from here. Your companion must have noticed you look. "He keeps getting hit on. It's funny."

You two lapsed into silence. Alia seemed to serve as a good bumper for anyone who came near you. Her larger form shielded your body from some of the onlookers. You hunched down a bit more and began to practice your sign language. Before you knew it, the woman next to you began to do so as well. You blinked at her in surprise.

"I see Mr. Dreemurr took my advice." She gave you a secretive smile. So she had been the one to tell Asgore about sign language. You thanked her with your hands. She responded in kind. You decided to spend the rest of your evening with her. If you had to stay up, at least it would be in good company.

And she didn't mind when you stopped to message your monster friends.

Sans hasn't called back yet.

* * *

 _It was close to your tenth birthday when you first met your step-father. You didn't pay too much attention to him when he had first been introduced to you but he didn't seem to care. In fact, he didn't mind you being a quiet kid. You were rather reclusive now. You didn't have any actual friends outside of the few people you hung out with casually at school. Your interests involved riding your bike through the city to the parks. You liked the parks because there was less people._

 _Your step-father married your mother after your tenth birthday. People called it a "shotgun wedding". Your grandparents didn't come. You didn't see them much anymore. Your mother stopped inviting them over to your house and apparently they had moved away. You kind of missed them._

 _Now married to your step-father, you and your mother moved into his apartment. You got a decently sized room and a nice bed. Your mother's modelling career seemed to have been getting better because she was featured in the magazines with your step-father. They liked to talk about his company a lot. You didn't care to read those magazines because they were boring._

 _Your mother still went out a lot of them time. Now that she had money she liked to spend it on things to decorate herself, the house, and you. She seemed to think that now that you were ten you could start wearing makeup and deodorant and jewelry but none of that interested you whatsoever. In the evenings she would go out with her new fancy friends._

 _Whenever your step-father came home to find you alone he would often ask you where your mother was. You would always shrug. Sometimes you also told him you hadn't seen her since last night. He would always get upset at that. Like your grandparents, you don't think he liked how little your mother took care of you. You were used to it by now but it still made him upset._

 _"You need to take care of your daughter!" He would shout at your mother._

 _"She's already being taken care of!"_

 _"She's not my daughter so don't make her my responsibility!"_

 _Even though he said that, though, he was the one more likely to get you new clothes and school supplies when you needed it. That was nice of him. You cautiously hoped that now that your mother was married you could finally see what it was like to have a father. You would sometimes come to him and ask him for a bedtime story but he would blow you off because he had work. However if you fell asleep in front of the tv he would bring you to bed._

 _You didn't have much interaction with him outside of conversations involving your mother. He had a bit of a temper but never once did he hit either of you. Often he would storm out of the house and come back calmed down but unwilling to talk with anyone. You were just glad he never forced you to talk if you didn't want to._

 _One time later in your school year, your teacher noticed how quiet you were. Most teachers always tried to encourage you to open up more and you usually would but it would never last. You always automatically defaulted to being a quiet child and most just accepted that. But this particular teacher noticed how your parents never came to teacher-parent meetings or ever signed your stuff. When the teacher questioned if you were hiding it from your parents you always shook your head._

 _"They're never home." You told the teacher. They can't sign the papers if they're not home. You even left the papers in obvious spots but neither of them ever seemed to notice them._

 _Your teacher called your parents. Your step-father had yelled at your mother because it was her job as your parent to sign the papers. Your mother argued back that your step-father could do it as well considering they were married. He refused though. Your mother stormed out that night and your step-father soon followed her. They didn't return that evening._

 _You went to the corner store and bought a sub. The teenager behind the counter recognized you and liked to chat with you. She was pleasant. You would need to stop by a bigger store and get groceries. Good thing you had your mother's credit card. Tonight, you think you would make yourself a cake to make you feel better. Pies were still out of your skill range yet._

* * *

 **A/N: Before I go, if after I've, um, "resolved" the parent thing (there's no way I can word that without making it suspicious gdi) any of you have questions as to why Frisk even bothered to return to their parents or any questions as to why the parents act that way then let me know!**


	10. Reunion

**A/N: Phew, my god you people really hate the parents. Which is saying something because I've only seen people react like that to stories where the children are physically abused. I'm glad there's no difference in intense emotions.**

 **Also everyone is wondering why Frisk even bothered to go back to their parents when they remembered all of the bullshit from the past. I don't want to answer that because hopefully that will be answered. But I will leave you with this: _Frisk needs to ask themselves why they went back._**

* * *

School was supposed to be back from holiday by now. As far as you were aware your parents haven't yet signed you up to go to school. Admittedly it's halfway through the year but you're gonna fall behind at this rate. Mentioning it to Toriel caused her to express some concerns for you. She wanted to talk to your parents but you didn't want a confrontation and asked your mother yourself.

"Baby, you're in a very important political position! There isn't time for school! You don't want to slack on your job, do you?" Your mother asked. No, of course you didn't want to slack on your job. But. You weren't slacking on it when you had been living with Toriel and you were going to school. Right? Maybe Toriel and Asgore did more work than you had originally thought.

"That is no excuse!" Toriel protested when you talked to her again and explained the situation. "My child, you need an education. You are young yet! You should not be so caught up in the adult world yet." She said softly. She had a point. You weren't ready to be an adult yet. You still wouldn't let Toriel talk to your parents though. The monster's frown could practically be heard through the phone. "…..I will see you at the meeting in two days?" She asked instead, changing the subject. You perked up at the thought.

"Yes!"

Toriel chuckled merrily at the excitement in your voice. "Your friends have insisted on joining us as well." You were delighted. All of them were coming? It would be so noisy but suddenly you couldn't wait for Thursday. You were so tired of how quiet the house was. "Papyrus is trying to convince Sans to go." She informed you. She sounded worried. "I have not seen much of him lately. It is….kind of lonely. Do you know if he is alright?" Her voice was becoming sadder. You didn't have a response. "It seems very lonely without you here, my child. Ebott is too large now."

You wanted to hug her. "Soon, mom." You murmured. You would convince your parents soon to let you visit Ebott again. Your step-father doesn't seem to care about the idea as long as he doesn't have to go but your mother was digging her heels further and further in the more you asked. You decided to let everyone hash it out at the meeting.

You had been going to more interviews. Your mother dressed you up like a doll all of the time. She wanted your hair cut and had taken you to a barber. You didn't want it cut off but rather trimmed (because you had to admit it was getting a little too long). Your mother warned you that if you didn't let the barber style your hair, it would just get buzzed. Your protests were silenced. You were at least given the option of what cut you wanted. It had to be a "boy" haircut. You got a pixie haircut. It looked good on you but you were too unhappy to care.

Your parents did a lot of talking at the interviews. They liked to say how much they had missed you when the monsters had you. You could feel yourself not caring anymore. You allowed them to pose and dress you like a toy. You much preferred to save your energy for anything more important.

When you had first rejoined the family you all ate together at the dinner table. Your step-father could keep up a steady stream of topics to talk about. You enjoyed the family gatherings because your parents would listen to you there. They were mildly interested in your stories about wrestling and what the Underground had looked like along with its crazy weather. You explained to them your cooking lessons with Undyne (and sometimes Papyrus) and they were appropriately horrified at the destruction. You rushed to assure them it wasn't your cooking that destroyed kitchens (and fish shaped houses).

But as the weeks went by your parents became too busy to eat with you. The silence of the apartment was oppressive so you would turn the tv on to whatever channel Mettaton was on. You had been invited onto his show (and by god, Mettaton worked fast to wrap the humans around his jazz fingers) to talk to you but your parents were wary about him. Apparently he was too flashy.

In between your self-study you chatted a lot with your friends. Your phone was in some ways very advanced (the fact that it worked above and underground, for instance) and in other ways very obsolete. You could access the internet on it but it was usually slow and drained your batteries. Alphys had warned you not to overcharge your phone or it might explode so you were too scared (and smart) to use it on the charger. Your friends' silly messages made your day but most of them worked during the day. The only ones you could really text were Alphys and Sans. Alphys got caught up in her work a lot and Sans rarely ever responded. The last time he had responded as about a week ago.

 **id much rather talk in person. jokes arent as funny over text. cant hear the laughs.**

 _ **Come visit, then.**_

 **when**

 ** _Now_.**

 **cant**

 _ **Soon?**_

 **yeah.**

He didn't respond after that.

* * *

 _The one thing that you really did like about your step-father was that he honestly seemed to love your mother. The way he treated her during some of the times you had seen them together at the apartment reminded you of your grandparents and those couples on tv. You always thought since turning eleven that because your family was rich it meant your parents needed to dislike each other and see other people on the side. As far as you could tell that wasn't the case. Your mother and step-father honestly loved each other._

 _Which only made all the fighting that did all the more confusing. Your parents argued a lot. The only time you ever heard your mother raise her voice was during arguments. Your step-dad didn't like all of your mother's frivolous spending and partying and your mother accused him of mistreating you and wanting to control her. It was always the same battle over and over again. It was like time was stuck in a loop._

 _It always ended with one or both of your parents leaving. Occasionally you stayed up late (because you could) waiting for them to come back. Mostly you just went about your normal routine. You started leaving the house to wander your neighborhood. You knew that a kid like you shouldn't travel alone but nobody seemed to care._

 _You stopped to chat occasionally with people on the streets. You always had money –an allowance given to you once a week…or whenever you ran out of money and pointed it out to your parents- on you so you would either give away the extra funds to those people who ring bells and hold out buckets or you would buy food for various homeless people. You got to personally know many of them as a community. They would gladly let you sit and eat with them wherever they had taken up residence for the hour. They told you wonderful and eclectic stories of their lives and families. It made you come to the realization that every person around you has a life and people they care about. Not everyone is bad. Everyone deserves a chance at happiness_

 _(That realization was critical for you to remember later on.)_

 _It was during your various escapades that a thought began to niggle at the back of your mind. It had been there for quite a while but you had ignored it for the most part. Now, though, with all of this free time to get lost in such a large city, it began to bother you more:_

 _If you wanted to, you could just leave and never come back._

 _Would your parents look for you? Would they notice you were gone right away or would it take a few hours? ….Would they even care? These questions rolled over and over in your head. They were dangerous thoughts, you knew, but you never planned to actually run away. They were harmless musings. You probably weren't the only child to contemplate running away from home. After all, your family was financially stable, you had a nice place, you were healthy, and your mother loved you. You even had a couple of friends at school. You had no reason to leave._

 _(It's funny how easy it is to trick yourself.)_

* * *

You couldn't wait to go to the meeting. You were currently dressed in a heavy woot trench coat and a tweed jacket. You had on a tie again (you still hated it). Your step-father had muttered how you looked like a lesbian. You couldn't even bother to care. You would be seeing the monsters again.

You had to take a plane to the city with the convention center where the meeting would be held. It was the biggest one you had been to yet. There was a stage with podiums and chairs overlooking what seemed to be a theatre of sorts. It was packed with people. This was the first meeting that the general public was allowed access to. It was overwhelming. You would be talking to all these people!

You swallowed against the fear lodged in your throat.

"Come here, Frisk. Hold my hand." Your mother held out her hand to you. "I'll lead you through the crowd so you won't get lost." You remembered Toriel taking your hand in the Ruins and took your mother's hand. You and your parents walked through the crowd together stopping a number of times along the way to talk to people who had recognized you. You had no attention for these people but luckily your parents seemed to take the spotlight off of you. Your step-father commented to you at one point about all of the famous people. Your mother marveled. You looked around for your monsters.

"LOOK AT ALL OF THESE HUMANS!" You heard yelled over the bustle of the crowd. You immediately tried to look in that direction but the crowd had become noisier and were flowing in the direction of Papyrus's voice. "THEY'RE TAKING SO MANY PICTURES!"

"you're famous, bro." You barely heard Sans's deep voiced drawl.

"WOWIE! FINALLY I'M FAMOUS IN REAL LIFE TOO!"

"Who is yelling?" Your mother muttered. You still couldn't see past all of the people.

"Forget these guys!" Came Undyne's voice. "Where's OUR human?!"

"YOU'RE RIGHT, UNDYNE! HUMANS! HAVE YOU SEEN OUR FRIEND? THEY ARE SHORT WITH BROWN HAIR. MOST LIKELY IN A STRIPED SHIRT!"

"And they squint a lot!" Undyne added.

"YEAH!"

You tugged on your mother's hand insistently and pointed at the crowd. Your parents were making faces but you didn't care. You could see flashes of lights as people took pictures.

"Where _is_ the ambassador?" You heard a few people question each other. You refused to wait any longer and released your mother's hand to plunge into the crowd. Your mother and step-father's startled cries were drowned out by the mass of bodies. Curse your shortness! You kept apologizing as you continued making your way further into the circle. You were beginning to feel claustrophobic.

"Can you see them?" You heard Alphys ask.

"Not yet." Asgore replied.

"Perhaps they are not here yet?" Toriel sounded anxious.

Finally you burst into the circle with a cry of, "Here!" And then there was your family facing towards you. You had stumbled to your knees when you had tumbled out of the wad of people but now you were being scooped up by a skeleton and hugged tightly against their (fake) armor chest. You heard cameras rapidly clicking.

"FRISK!" Papyrus shouted right into your ear causing you to flinch. He was on his knees clutching you to him. "IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! ARE YOU NOT HAPPY TO SEE ME?" You nodded enthusiastically which smiling. Papyrus let out a joyful squeak. "REALLY? YOU ARE?! THAT'S GREAT BECAUSE I MISSED YOU TOO AND AM VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU! NYEH HEH HEH HEH-"

"Yo Papyrus! Quit hogging the human!" Undyne grabbed Papyrus's shoulder (why was he wearing his costume armor again? Oh right, he's the monster mascot) and pulled him back enough to steal his hug.

"-HEH!" Papyrus finished.

Undyne lifted you clear off your feet and you felt the air squeezed out of you with her hug. "LOOK AT THIS PUNK!" She chortled and noogied your hair. "Your cut your hair! And look so fancy! Man, it's just SO FREAKING GOOD TO SEE-" You panicked as you felt Undyne tilting backwards-

"UNDYNE!" Alphys, Asgore, and Toriel cried out in horror.

"whoa, wait a sec-!" Sans's alarmed voice started but was overpowered by his brother shouting,

"PLEASE DON'T SUPLEX THE HUMAN CHILD!"

"-you…oh." She quickly halted in the middle of her suplex. Your head was dangerously close to the ground. Thank god for her awesome abs. She laughed and straightened up before putting you back on the floor where you sagged against Sans in relief. He caught your arm to keep you upright and you thought you saw the blue fading from his eye. "Sorry 'bout that! Um…got a little too excited!" Undyne apologized sheepishly although she still had a huge grin on her face.

"YOU NEED TO FIX THAT PROBLEM!" Papyrus fried out in anger before returning to his normal cheerful shout, "THERE SHOULD AT LEAST BE SNOW FIRST!"

"You're right! Frisk, let's go outside and celebrate by snow wrestling!" But Papyrus said that wasn't very fun!

"H-how about we don't?" Alphys rescued you as she came over to join you.

"this kid would have snow chance." Sans commented as he wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead. Papyrus took the handkerchief afterwards to wipe down his own forehead. You gave a breathy laugh of agreement as Sans winked at some of the cameras that were filming.

"I-it's good to see y-you again!" Alphys said to you. She and Undyne were color-coordinating on their dresses today. You took Alphys's hand with your free one –your legs haven't recovered from their shock yet so Sans still had a grip on you- and beamed at her. Her face brightened with anxious joy. She seemed to be firmly ignoring the attention all of you were receiving.

You turned to Sans next to give him a hug but he just let go of your arm. "probably someone better to hug right now." You frowned in confusion until you noticed he wasn't looking at you. You turned around and there were Toriel and Asgore each waiting their turn. Your heart leaped so hard in your chest it physically hurt and you teared up. You hesitated, though. Could you just run to them?

Toriel didn't let you think about it as she opened her arms and kneeled down. You dithered no longer and ran straight into her arms, burying your face in the fur of her neck. You gripped her tightly and allowed a single sob to escape you. She smelled like home. "Oh, my child!" She whispered as she wrapped you up in her hug. Her hugs really were the best. It felt like she would never let go. You preferred it at this moment.

"Look at you, little one!" Asgore said and you pulled back your head enough to see him. He was smiling at you with tired eyes. He never seemed to stop looking tired. "I didn't recognize you with your cute haircut!"

You flushed with pleasure. You wanted to hug him too but you were unwilling to leave Toriel's arms quite yet. Toriel seemed to sense this and, though reluctant as well, released you. You held your arms out to Asgore and he effortlessly lifted you from your feet. He spun you around once –you were the size of a toddler compared to his height- before hugging you close. His great beard scratched at your neck and his light armor dug into your body but you were so happy. You couldn't stop grinning.

"WHERE ARE THE HUMAN PARENTS?" Papyrus asked as Asgore kissed your forehead before replacing you on the ground. You moved and took Toriel's hand and she smiled at you. The sorrow in her eyes was fading as you watched.

"Yeah, where are they? We wanna meet Mom and Dad Frisk!" Undyne agreed.

You looked around the crowd –that was starting to thin out a bit now but still had plenty of people in it- for your parents' familiar faces. But you couldn't see them over the top of anyone. You considered asking Asgore if you could ride on his shoulders but it seemed someone else had the idea first.

"Hey chump! C'mere and get on my shoulders! You're too short!" Undyne said and she kneeled down. You blinked in surprise before moving to climb onto her shoulders.

"THAT'S A GREAT IDEA! SANS-"

"bro." Sans protested but he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"HERE, SANS! JUST LIKE WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER!"

"pap-" But Papyrus had ducked down and slipped right under his brother. Sans was lifted up. You thought, much to your amusement, that you could play Chicken like this.

….Probably best not to mention that right now.

"this was a tall request, bro."

"I'M NOT EVEN GONNA DEIGN TO GIVE THAT AN ANSWER!"

You smiled as you were finally face-height with Asgore again. He chuckled at you. You cupped your hands around your eyes like binoculars and looked around. You spotted your parents not too far away. Your father was busy getting a plate of food but your mother was watching you with dark eyes. Your spirits fell along with your hands and smile.

"You find them?" Undyne asked trying to look up at you. Her hair –out of a ponytail today- made it difficult to. Sans was watching you. He had probably noticed your change in demeanor.

"SANS! HAVE YOU FOUND THEM?!"

"looks like it." Sans turned his eyes away from you to look at your parents. "by the food."

"GREAT! LET'S GO SAY HI!" He ducked down to let his brother off.

Undyne continued to carry you. "Lead the way, Frisk!" She commanded. You shook your head though. She frowned finally noticing your mood. Asgore lifted you from her shoulders and placed you on the ground. "Hey…what's wrong, kid?" She asked you.

Toriel brushed your short hair back, fixing it from Undyne's earlier noogie. "What is the matter, my child?"

"I-if it's the crowd…we can, um, find a quiet place to…talk with your parents!" Alphys suggested. You shook your head.

"I don't think…my parents like monsters much." You admitted quietly.

"WHAT? THEY JUST HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO KNOW US!" Papyrus said. You weren't so sure about that. They already met Toriel and Asgore but they didn't seem to like them. "I'LL GO SAY HI!" Papyrus took off towards the food table. The rest of you followed at a more sedate pace. You held onto Toriel's hand. You were reluctant for your friends to meet your parents just because you have no idea how it would go. Your mother already looked unhappy and your step-father was obviously a little scared.

The scene you all came to was of Papyrus trying valiantly to make good conversation with your mother as your step-father gawked at the walking talking skeleton. Your mother was cringing from how loud Papyrus was. You understood that feeling. Growing up with the grandparents you had…well.

"FRISK YOUR PARENTS ARE REALLY QUIET TOO! …IS IT JUST YOU OR ARE MOST HUMANS LIKE THAT?" Papyrus said as you all met up again. People were giving you all a bit of a wider berth, luckily.

"pretty sure it's just them." Sans commented.

"Heya!" Undyne greeted your parents.

"Howdy! It is good to see you again!" Asgore held his hand out to your step-father but when the man didn't take it he tried your mother instead. She hesitantly took it and shook it but she quickly pulled it away again. She was eyeing your colorful friends before her eyes landed on your hand in Toriel's.

"Hello." Toriel greeted shortly. Uh-oh, looks like she's still not over the no-school thing.

"…Hello." Your mother greeted everyone.

"ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MY FRIENDS!" Papyrus decided to take the initiative and introduced everyone.

Alphys leaned into your ear while he was doing so and said, "…They, um…don't really like monsters." She stated it like it was a fact. You nodded sadly to her. Alphys was frowning though and studying your parents. Sans hadn't said anything for a while now. You looked at him but he was examining his surroundings. He didn't seem too pleased with anything. Maybe this was one of his off days?

You tentatively reached out and tugged on his sleeve. His eyes –small pricks of lights in his eye sockets- alighted on yours. The lights expanded slightly and the bone above his socket shifted some –he was raising an eyebrow. You tilted your head in a silent question.

"pretty in _tense_ situation." He murmured to you while watching your friends and family interact. He wasn't joking about the tension. It was very much real. It made your skin crawl. Everyone but Papyrus had picked up on it by now. Toriel had brought up your schooling. Your two mothers were going at it passive-aggressively. You didn't understand how all women seemed to have the ability to fight that way. It made you cringe.

You tugged on his sleeve again. "Okay?" You asked.

He shrugged. You frowned at him. He was being difficult. You stared him down. If you did it long enough, he would either break or try to escape. You weren't going to give in. He was firmly ignoring you. You stared harder. Alphys and Undyne were laughing about something. Papyrus was trying his damndest to get your parents to really chat with him. Sans looked bored. You tugged again.

"…...want my coat?" He said instead. You blinked but yes, you did want the coat. He shrugged the jacket off and held it out to you. You eyed your parents really quick –they weren't paying attention to you- and quickly switched your jacket for Sans's. While you zipped it up you surreptitiously sniffed it. The scent of grease was extremely strong –almost overwhelming- and you couldn't be more pleased. You knew you were going to rest easy tonight. He took your jacket and put it on instead. It was tight on him and then suddenly it hung on his frame. You stared in shock. "kid, i'm a skeleton." He said like it was obvious.

Oh.

Wait, he still didn't explain what his problem was-!

The speakers around the room sprang to life and announced that the meeting was about to begin soon. "Oh!" Toriel said, finally pulled away from her silent argument with your mother. You hadn't been paying any attention to it. Did they decide anything…? "Come, Frisk! The stage is far away yet!"

Your mother grabbed your other hand. "Yes, come Frisk." Her voice was chilly. You'd never heard your mother sound like that before except when your step-father talked to particularly pretty women. You were baffled by it.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright so I was gonna try to get two chapters out tonight but unfortunately a friend came over for a surprise visit and that didn't happen.**

 **About tomorrow! I most likely won't be able to post. I'm gonna be busy most of the day shopping and then over to my friend's house. However if I have time in between I will work on the story. Or over at my friend's house. No guarantee though! I'll work hard on Sunday!**


	11. Fallen

**A/N: Alright before I start I do have a warning for you! There are some suicidal thoughts in here! They're mild but still there! Please be aware!**

 **Next, hoo boy I think you guys are going to hate this chapter. This story is beginning to wrap up! After this one I believe there's only about 2 more chapters.**

 **There's a number of scene breaks in this chapter. But it's a long chapter to make up for it.**

* * *

After the meeting all of you got separated as different news medias wanted your attention. You mother and step-father stayed by your side –a relief- and helped you get through all your questions. They weren't happy about you switching your coat out but you refused to take it off. They had no choice but to accept it or make a scene. It was strange being shepherded around. You could still hear Papyrus on occasion happily chatting away about himself and his friends and experiences so far. People were becoming rather enthralled with him. It was hard not to love Papyrus, once you got past his no-inside voice.

There were occasions where all of you were put together for one big interview. The people asked why you had lived with the monsters and didn't go home. You had only responded, "The monsters are my friends" and that seemed to satisfy them temporarily. There were also questions like if your family and the monsters got along and whatnot. Asgore tended to steer the conversation away from that.

Sans and Alphys didn't particularly like being interviewed so they stayed out of the spotlight and just watched. You could see the two of them chatting with each other. They seemed really serious. Maybe they were talking science to each other? It's the only reason Alphys would look so upset. She was making a lot of arm movements.

You took a break to go off to the bathroom. Alphys joined you so that way if you got lost both of you would be lost together. She seemed disgruntled about something. You waited to ask her until after you had used the restroom and then met her again outside of them. "Is…something wrong?" You asked.

Alphys looked around and then motioned you to follow her. You frowned in confusion but followed after her as she led you to a secluded corner. There she turned to you with grim eyes and put her hands on your shoulders. You had only seen her this serious once before and it unnerved you. "Frisk…listen…y-you do know that…" she paused and looked away before looking back, "if you're…unhappy with your human parents…that you can come back to Ebott…right? You don't need to…prove anything by staying with your human parents."

You goggled at her. You admit that such reasoning had been in your head. You were afraid of what Toriel and Asgore would think of you for abandoning your parents. You loved your parents but….you were certainly unhappy. You were surprised that it was Alphys of all people to tell you.

Her mouth twitched a little sadly. "You didn't know." She stated. You lowered your eyes. "Um…..F-Frisk I'm…I'm gonna hug you." She said and the next thing you knew you were in her arms. Her body was hard because of her scales and her skin was cool but you were happy to hug her anyway. She released you rather quickly. "Just. R-Remember. Remember that. You have a home. New New Home." She was sweating nervously now. Her seriousness was fading again. You nodded at her. You would remember.

You both turned to rejoin your friends. They were all having a photo shoot. Your mother did not look her best. You hid behind where Sans was standing in an effort not to be dragged in. With your back pressed to his and facing the wall, nobody could see you. You could feel him chuckle a little. Alphys took up post covering one of your sides and you both grinned ruefully at each other.

"hey kid." Sans asked lightly. "got a question for ya. real important."

"Hm?" You hummed.

"your folks. did they ever hurt you?"

You stared in alarm at him realizing what he was asking. Alphys also gawked. You quickly shook your head. "My parents never hit me." You assured him. You gripped the back of his woolen trench coat. It hurt your fingers more than his plush jacket.

He turned his head to look you in the eye. You saw the edging of blue in the light and even though your hair stood on your end you had a strong feeling it wasn't for you. " **That isn't what I asked.** "

Your mouth dried up and you could only stare, your mouth hanging open a little.

"Oh dear." Alphys shakily whispered under her breath.

"Frisk?" Toriel called and you hastily got out of your hiding place. You could feel eyes on your back as you fast-walked over to join the others. You told yourself that you weren't running away from your best friend.

* * *

You couldn't count how long you and your parents lingered around talking to people even as the monsters began to go back to their hotel rooms. They had tried to stay with you as long as they could –and you them- but your parents were leading you around by your hand and were rather rude to your monster friends. You weren't given enough peace to be with them any longer. Your mother was hounding you and really it was starting to annoy you. But anytime you tried to ask her to take a step back she would only tighten her grip on your hand and tug you along giving you a scolding look. You reluctantly backed down. Your step-father never said a word in favor or against your mother's treatment of you.

Eventually you all made it back to the hotel room and you went to go take a bath before bed. You would all be getting up early for your flight back home. In the bath you thought about what Sans and Alphys had said. Your parents never did hurt you. They never hit you. It wasn't….It wasn't what they were thinking. You weren't so ignorant that you couldn't spot the red flags that they were clearly seeing. But it wasn't like that! Your mother loved you and your parents took care of you! Admittedly it wasn't the love and attention you craved that you had been spoiled with by the monsters but your parents still cared for you!

It couldn't be abuse.

….

But….

No.

It's not.

…It's not.

(It can't be. They love you.)

You went to bed and lay there in silence trying to draw on the exhaustion that clung to you like slick. You could hear your parents talking out in the main living room area. Your mother was talking rapidly sounded upset. She'd been upset all day. Were they fighting again?

"I don't…I can't stand them!" She hissed.

"They're _monsters_ ¸ dear. You're not SUPPOSED to like them!" Your step-father insisted. You curled down into your blankets more and buried your face into the fur lining Sans's jacket. The familiar action soothed you. It was strange wearing a jacket to bed again. You pulled the hood over your head.

"I don't like them with Frisk! Did you see what that…fish…almost did to him?" Your mother was sounding a little more panicked.

"I was about to call security! This is what I was worried about. Monsters are just that: monsters!" You could hear your step-father pacing.

"They almost hurt my baby!" Your mother wailed.

"Shh, dear." Your step-father soothed. She had been getting loud. "Here, come into the bedroom. You could use a hot soak."

"I'm so scared…!"

The voices faded. You closed your eyes. Your parents were scared of the monsters but they were more scared for you. You apparently hadn't done a good enough job assuring them that the monsters wouldn't hurt you (on purpose). Everybody had the potential to hurt others but that didn't mean that everybody is horrible. The monsters were just the same. Humans and monsters were not any different. Your parents were worried about the cruelty of monsters so of course they wouldn't want you near your friends and family.

(See? They love you.)

You fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 _Tonight the screaming was worse than ever. You hadn't been around for the start of the fight but you had walked in on it. Your parents' fighting could be heard from the stairwell and the elevator and it had scared you. You'd never heard it this bad before. You were honestly afraid one of them was going to start throwing punches._

 _Maybe you should intervene?_

 _"U-Um…" You tried but your step-father screamed over you._

 _"LOOK AT YOUR DAUGHTER!" He pointed at you and you flinched. "Look at how late she's coming home! THIS is what I'm talking about! You're not taking care of her at all! You're leaving it all on me and I am TIRED of it!"_

 _They were fighting about you? A small part of your mind whimpered._

 _"Oh why does it even MATTER?! You, my mom, my dad –ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THAT CHILD!" Your mother's face was streaked with tears. Her voice sounded raw. How long had they been fighting? "None of you care about me and my needs! I told my parents I couldn't handle a child but they didn't CARE! And now you're the SAME!"_

 _"Why do you even HAVE a child? You wanted it, right?!"_

 _You were an 'it' now? Not even a 'her' or 'him'?_

 _"NO!" You froze wide eyed as you stared at your mother. Your step-father gaped and your mother gasped as she realized what she said, her hands flying to her mouth as panicked eyes looked to you. You felt something horrible swell in your chest. "Frisk…! Frisk, I'm sorry I…!" Your mother whimpered._

 _You turned away and walked to your bedroom in silence. You had some headphones so you could listen to music on your small computer. You didn't want to hear anymore. Neither of your parents came after you._

 _"See what you've done?!" Your mother accused your step-father._

 _"Me?!"_

 _You closed your door and put your headphones over your ears. They were good at cancelling all noise. They had cost a lot of the allowance your mother had given you but they were worth it as you plugged them in and began listening to your music. You curled up in your bed and stared sightlessly at the computer screen. You could still remember your mother's face from when she had abandoned you._

 _You really were unwanted. You were never meant to be born._

* * *

The next day things looked better. The sky was bright and sunny and clear. The porch outside of hotel room overlooked a lake with a fountain and the cityscape looked pretty even from here. There was a nice breeze blowing. You still had time to enjoy that sun-warmed air before you needed to start packing. Your parents were up getting coffee and would be back soon. They had asked if you had wanted any but Asgore's tea had spoiled you and coffee no longer appealed. They promised to get you tea instead when you mentioned that you preferred it.

The air tore through your opened jacket and made you heated skin shiver in the cold but you couldn't bring yourself to go back inside yet. You wanted to enjoy this view. There was a lot more greenery in this city than the one you lived in. You wished most cities were like this one. You were glad you had come here.

"Here you are, Frisk." You turned your head as your step-father came out through the sliding glass door. He was carrying a cardboard cup holder. He pulled out one and handed it to you. "Your tea."

"Thank you." You said and held the warm cup in your hands. You blew on it a few times but didn't risk drinking yet. You had learned from Undyne's house. You looked through the doors to see your mother slipping on her nice coat before she joined you both outside. She seemed much more cheerful today.

"It's so lovely out!" She said in a quiet but reverent voice. She took her cup from your step-father and sipped delicately at it.

"It's very picturesque." Your step-father agreed around his own drink.

That gave you an idea!

You put down your cup and held a finger out to your parents at their confused looks. They weren't used to you seeing so excited. You ran inside and grabbed your digital camera before running back outside and holding it up cheerfully.

"Oh!" Your mother gasped in delight. "That's a great idea, Frisk!"

You nodded and turned it on. You had fiddled with it in the past exploring the features. There were a lot of silly and unnecessary photos on there including pictures of your room, some unintentional selfies, some intentional selfies, and a picture of a dog you saw on the street that you thought Papyrus would throw a fit over because it was so huge. It had looked like a bear! You really should've brought the camera to the meeting so you could start your scrapbook finally.

Your step-father pulled a deck table over and you set the timer on your camera before going over to join your parents. They smiled and ducked down to be the same height as you and well within the frame. You beamed and made bunny ears with both fingers. The camera snapped and you all split apart to look at the results. Against the background of the blue sky and green lawn and lake you all looked like quite the happy family. It was the best picture you had ever had with your parents. You loved it.

Your parents did too. "We should frame this!" Your mother said.

"We'll need to print it when we get back to our apartment." Your step-father agreed. You nodded enthusiastically before taking your tea and camera inside. They followed you. "Frisk, go pack." You nodded to show you heard him and went into your room to go pack up the little bit of stuff you have.

It was once you were back home did you remember the picture. You grabbed your camera and your cell phone. Your camera wasn't a normal camera considering it was monster-made. There was a cord hidden inside of it that you could attach to your phone and you could transfer photos to it. You did it fairly regularly because you didn't actually have a computer anymore.

You texted Sans the photo. You honestly didn't expect a response.

 **cute**

 _ **Can you keep it for me?**_

 **you mean store it**

 _ **Yes.**_

 **why**

 _ **Can't be too safe.**_

He didn't respond for a long while. When he did all he said was

 **gotcha**

You were pleased.

* * *

This evening you had spent all day on your phone. Everyone had been so excited to see you that they had blown up your messages box. Even monsters from all over Ebott –and your human friends- were now texting you. All of them had seen the meeting on tv and wanted to gush with you about it. You had never been so overwhelmed but you had filtered through all of them. It took most of the day though.

Your mother wasn't happy about it. She took your phone from your hands. "Frisk, that's enough with your phone! You're always on this thing! Who in the world are you talking to all the time?"

You were reluctant to tell her the answer but you didn't like lying to people so you told her the truth. Her mood soured more.

"That's it! No more cell phone for a while, do you hear me?"

"But-!" You tried but your mother cut you off.

"Do not talk back, child!" She sounded horribly like your grandparents in the way she said that. You instinctively shut your mouth and ducked down a little to make yourself smaller. "Go outside right now and play! Not another peep!"

You got up and put your shoes on before leaving the house. You took the elevator down and left the lobby to go outside. It was dark out. Well, you had been through this city at night before. It was a good thing you had Sans's jacket to keep you nice and toasty. It felt about as cold as Snowdin and the mountains around it. You went to the park to go swing and entertain yourself. Your mother had a point in you not going outside as often as you used to. But you didn't like the city so of course you didn't go out much. At least the park was nice.

Days passed though and your mother refused to return your phone. You grew more and more upset about it. She insisted that you needed a break from constantly texting. She said that you used to play outside all of the time but now all you did was sit inside. You told her that it was the only contact you could have with your friends because they lived so far away. You hadn't even memorized their numbers so you couldn't use the house phone. What if you got lost? She refused to listen to your arguments.

So you were back to leaving the house all of the time to entertain yourself. There were new homeless on the street. You preferred their company to being at home. You were angry but you didn't want to fight anymore. You hated fighting. You understood now why your parents always left the house when they were angry. It was a good choice. You didn't understand why your mother wouldn't just let you be friends with the monsters. She just wouldn't give them a chance!

What would Toriel say? You haven't called her in days. She must be worried. And Papyrus and Alphys must be confused by your lack of response online. Alphys was telling you all about what was happening in Yona of the Dawn too…

It was so aggravating!

You were lonelier than ever.

* * *

 _The Fight (capitalized for purpose of distinguishing it from other fights in your head) between your parents dredged up old fears from years ago. The re-realization that you really were unwanted –and hearing it confirmed aloud- left a large hole in your heart and mind. What was the point of you even being here? Why were your parents bothering to take care of you? You were a waste of space._

 _Were you the reason why they fought all of the time? Was your existence the reason why your mother didn't smile a lot or cried so often in the past? So long ago she had tried to rid herself of you to save you both the pain but you had come back and made her life worse. She said she loved you –and you didn't doubt that she did- but she didn't want you. If your grandparents hadn't defended you, would your mother have tried to abandon you again?_

 _Why were you still here? You had seen dramas on television before about people in a similar situation to you. Feeling unwanted wasn't uncommon. They always killed themselves, or attempted to. It was very dramatic. You didn't have a penchant for drama. Killing yourself sounded scary. How would you even go about it? There were many ways a child like you could die…_

 _No. Stop. It was scary. Death was scary. You didn't want to kill yourself._

 _Instead, you found yourself taking buses out of the city. It was after school and your decision to leave had been impulsive. You had nothing on you but a single bandaid that had been on your knee for a couple days now, a bit of cash for the buses, and an empty stomach. You had worn your favorite shirt today –the long sleeved striped one- even though it was too hot to wear it. You were hungry but a majority of your money had been given away and you needed what little you had left. It didn't really matter anyway._

 _You took three buses before you were dropped off at a familiar bus stop. It was surreal being back here at the foot of Mt. Ebott. The worn wooden bench was still there but it was even more weather-torn. The bus driver didn't pull away right away and called out to you._

 _"H-hey, kid." The older woman called. She was looking nervously at the mountain and then at you. You could easily tell the connection she was making. "What are you doing getting off here?"_

 _You smiled at her. "I'm waiting."_

 _"For who?"_

 _You hated lying. "Some friends." You said._

 _"And then what?"_

 _"Go home."_

 _She still didn't look appeased. You could tell she was uneasy about leaving a child here at this cursed mountain. You waved cheerfully at her and reluctantly she closed the doors and drove off. You sat on the bench for a little while to make sure the bus driver wasn't going to come back. Your eyes searched the ground idly and alighted on a rather large stick. You stared at it. Was that the same stick you had used to protect yourself when you were seven? It was impossible to tell. You grabbed it and then turned to face towards the trail that led up into the mountain. Like years ago, it seemed to call to you. The rational part of you said that it was your imagination and your curiosity to explore rather than any type of magic. But the imaginative part of you felt physically drawn to climb._

 _The trail for a long while was clear. You dragged your stick beside you through the dirt and took in the serenity of your surroundings. It would be a long walk, you were sure. The heat of the day was causing you to sweat under your long shirt but you didn't mind. Despite the maelstrom of fear in your breast you felt strangely content. Yes this mountain is known for swallowing children but it was peaceful. There weren't any human towns for a number of miles. The closest one you could see was near a lake not too far off._

 _The dirt path began to get steeper. The trees spread out more as rock became common in the ground. It was becoming more mountainous. The sun was beginning to set when you broke through a bundle of trees to be confronted with the opening to a large cave in the cliff face. You stared in hesitant terror into it and cautiously entered. Vines covered the ground and extended further than you like the bumper lanes in a bowling alley leading you deeper into the cave. The sun was behind you and you froze as the ground in front of you stopped and dropped off into the largest pit you had ever seen. You couldn't bring yourself to look into it._

 _This…must be where the other children had gone. Had they fallen in? Were they taken? You were experiencing vertigo at the mere thought of falling in. Your feet tingled like they did when you were gazing down from high up. You took a couple steps back and tore your eyes away from the hole to look back out unto the trees. You were so far up in the mountain. You hadn't even noticed you had climbed so far. You were tired and you were hungry and thirsty. Your stick was your only companion._

 _You took a step backwards. Your legs were hard to move. Solid ground._

 _It was bizarre how peaceful it was up here on this mountain where so many children's souls had been lost. You could hear birds chirping and wind funneled into the cave to give you a breath of cool air. In the underbrush you could hear movement of rabbits and other small forest creatures._

 _You took another step backwards. You were blinking rapidly. Still solid ground._

 _From here you could see a city in the distance. The sun, now almost orange as it was hitting the horizon, half-blinded you. Was that your city over there? Was it another city? It was hard to tell. Two hours was a long drive._

 _You took another step backwards. Your body was shaking. Still solid ground._

 _What would your parents think? Were they home yet? You hadn't left a note or anything. It would be difficult to tell you had just up and left. You had only stopped home long enough to leave your backpack and to change your clothes. You had said goodbye to both of your parents this morning and they had said it back to you. You suppose that was sufficient enough._

 _You took another step backwards. Your foot landed half on ground and half on open air._

 _You were scared. You didn't want to die. Dying sounded so final. What was the point of living if you just died before you accomplished anything? There was so much potential in everyone and that included you. Dying was such a terrible term._

 _Disappearing sounded so much nicer._

 _You took a step backwards and_

 _f_  
 _e_  
 _l_  
 _l_

 _d_  
 _o_  
 _w_  
 _n_  
 _._


	12. Save

**A/N: Surprise extra chapter! I think you guys will like this one.**

* * *

It had been over a week now since your phone was taken from you. You had done everything that your mother had asked you to do in an effort to get her to return your cell phone. She always had a request for you when you asked if you could finally have your phone back. You did any and all in a timely manner. Each time she appeared more and more distressed you asked. You knew you were stressing her out asking but you were persistent. Your friends and family were probably panicking from not hearing from you. Toriel would be having an aneurysm. The only real surprising thing is that nobody had come to check on you so far. But the weekend was almost here and Toriel would no longer have school.

You asked your mother again for your phone before she tried to take off for the evening. You were blocking her way. "Frisk, move." She commanded.

"My phone…" You tried.

"FRISK!" She screamed, finally snapping. You flinched. She immediately calmed down some but she still was angry. "You are NOT getting your phone back!" She smiled a little at you. It wasn't a happy smile. You didn't like this smile at all. "Unfortunately it broke. I will be getting you a replacement soon."

You stared at her and she gently moved you aside and left. Was she lying to you? It's completely possible the phone did break but if it really was broken…you had no way of contacting your friends. You needed to get internet access to contact Papyrus or Undyne or Alphys but the closest library was too far away to walk. You would need to take a cab and most were sketchy about taking a thirteen year old. Maybe you should rebel in a fit of anger and just take the buses to Ebott. Your family would deserve it. They would deserve the scare!

…But you still felt guilty about leaving the first time.

But why were you? Why were you so guilty?

Because your parents love you. Even when they do unseemly things, they still love you. Maybe you needed to be punished? Maybe your phone being taken away was a delayed punishment for running away the first time? Things made a lot more sense if it was put that way, you rationalized. Okay, so your phone was gone. It was time to find a way to the library. You could ask your parents to take you tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day.

* * *

Your parents agreed about going to the library but it would only be a stop along the way. Today you were all going to go shopping together. It was the first time you had actually gone on a shopping spree with them. Usually your mother just went and bought your clothes or your step-father did. You never had a reason to go and they never said they would bring you. You were glad to have company on an outing though.

Downtown was a lot bigger than you had imagined. There were crowds of people and the smell of exhaust was heavy. It made more sense as to why you could barely see the stars at night. The streets were very packed with cars on this Friday morning and it was chilly out. It had snowed the night before but there wasn't any snow for your boots to crunch through because the sidewalks were all cleared of the snow. There were patches of ice in places but you could avoid those.

Your parents were taking you shopping for new clothing. You didn't understand why you needed so many clothes (you already had so many now) but they had insisted you needed new ones. Most of the clothing you owned –a mixture of clothing made in Ebott and clothing bought by your mother- was either baggy or too small. You preferred the baggy ones personally, especially in the cold. It meant you could add more layers.

"Maybe now we can get you a new jacket, Frisk." Your step-father suggested. He glanced up from his phone to look pointedly at your jacket. "You can smell the grease on it. Honey, why hasn't it been washed yet?"

"Frisk won't take it off." She said.

"I like it." You said simply.

"That one skeleton took his old one." Your mother continued.

"The loud one?" Your step-father asked.

"The short one."

"That was a good coat too! Frisk!" Your step-father scolded. You couldn't bring yourself to care. Sans was probably taking care of it. Maybe. You were still concerned about his "fatness" magic.

The clothing store you all went into _smelled_ rich. All of the material looked expensive but you had to admit there was some really pretty stuff. You didn't resist running your fingers over anything you could touch. This place was almost as fancy as Mettaton's hotel! The material reminded you of that huge bed you had spent five minutes crawling around in. (The music that played when you moved had been too hilarious. Who made a bed that emitted dancing music whenever you moved around?) There was soft popular music playing on the speakers of the store and there were mannequins dressed to the nines posed under spotlights. A part of you thought about Mad Dummy and their cousin Dummy posing in a store like this. You cracked a grin. Well, first they would need to have arms. And legs.

The three of you all went through clothing together changing and modelling as needed for opinions. The clothes sometimes felt actually rather good to wear but some of it was far too stuffy. You preferred the casual stuff. Even the sneakers here cost far too much. It made you gape at the thought of anyone buying them. And you lived with monsters that used gold as a currency!

The problems only really began to start when your gender was brought up again.

"Honey, Frisk needs to have at least one bra. She's a growing girl!" Your step-father insisted.

Your mother was offended. "Frisk is a _boy_! How many times do I have to tell you?"

Your step-father threw his hands in the air. "YOU'RE the one who told me she was a girl when we first got together! And besides, she has and wears dresses! No rightful boy would wear a dress!"

Well that was offensive. You knew plenty of boys that wore dresses. Like that lion monster and Mettaton.

"I am _not_ letting you buy my son a bra! He doesn't even need one!" She pointed at you.

"Well she'll need one eventually!" They were keeping their voices down but they were beginning to make a scene. You personally didn't want a bra whether or not you'd need one. They looked uncomfortable and restrictive.

"Frisk. Is. A. _Boy_! Frisk!" She turned to you then. "Get into the dressing room! I'll prove this once and for all!"

You backed away and shook you head. No, you were definitely not going in there. You didn't need to prove anything to anyone! Your mother was insane!

Clearly your step-father thought so as well. "Now dear-!" He tried but she shook her head.

"This is the only way to prove it to you!" She reached a hand out to grab you.

You took off and out of the store. The alarm beeped loudly after you.

You ran not paying attention to where you were going. You bumped into many people and apologized. Your breaths fogged the air in front of you and your heart thudded in your chest. You couldn't stand to be around your family right now. They had scared you. Your running away reminded you of your fight against Undyne. If there was one thing the Underworld taught you, it's to not be ashamed of running away from a battle you can't win.

You came to a street crossing and ran across it unthinkingly. Cars blared their horns at you and you froze up at the approaching vehicle. Were you going to be hit? Somehow death wasn't as scary anymore-

But you felt something familiar in your chest become heavy and before you knew it your whole body was falling sideways. It felt like gravity had suddenly shifted. You could taste the blue magic on the back of your tongue. Instinctively you thought to jump but instead you allowed your body to ragdoll out of the way of approaching traffic. You only knew two people with blue magic, after all. You waited to hit something but felt a solid body catch you. The gravity instantly released on you and you collapsed into your friend's arms.

"jeez, kid. didn't i tell you not to fall for me?" You let out a breathless sob of a laugh and hugged Sans tightly. His arms didn't release you even as he supported most of your weight. You could see some of the passersby gaping at what they'd just experienced. You instead looked up at Sans and saw he was wearing his spare hoodie with the hood actually up. His grin was a relief.

"Oops." You said simply.

"clumsy. you were like this in the underworld too. i thought my duty as your protector was over a long time ago. you nearly died." You began to laugh but it was slightly hysterical. Dying had become almost an inside joke between you two. "heh, thought you'd like that. wasn't even a pun."

"What…are you doing here?" You asked and straightened to support yourself again. He kept a hand on your side until he was sure you were steady and then he released you to tuck his arms into his pockets.

"haven't heard from you in a while. you said to come visit." You had told him to come visit a long time ago. "unless you changed your mind?" You shook your head quickly. "let's walk, pal. s'been a long time." The two of you began to walk at a leisurely pace. He ducked into an alley and you followed only to wind up in a park of sorts. You were slightly disoriented not recognizing this park. "huh. so that's where this leads." Sans commented idly.

You raised an eyebrow at him.

He grinned. "new to the city." He said as an explanation. It felt like he was lying. You were getting better at being able to tell but if he'd been here before why hadn't he visited? You didn't bother to ask, though. If he wanted you to know, he would tell you. You couldn't help but feel slightly betrayed though. Maybe that's what he's been spending all of his time on? Exploring the city? Did he have a shortcut from here to Ebott?

Sans found a bench and plopped down on it. You followed suit and pulled up your hood before glancing questioningly at him. He didn't respond so you specified by pointing at his hood. "oh." He said casually. He looked almost bored. You knew better. "humans get freaked out by skeletons walking the streets. boneheaded in my opinion." You nodded in agreement. Every human had a skeleton in them after all. You pointed it out to him and he burst into laughter. You frowned, baffled. His grin was amused. "hey buddo, it, uh, might not be good to just say things like that. people might imply things." You gave him your most unamused look. You had only been stating a fact. He snorted.

You two sat in a peaceful silence watching passerby. This park was in the middle of the city –you recognized that you actually weren't that far from the store you had run from- and you could see some food venders on the other side of the park. There weren't that many people here considering it was the middle of a work day. This was nice, though. You liked this.

"so." Sans broke the silence. "you were in a hurry earlier." You didn't respond. "care to explain?" he pushed. You still didn't respond. He kicked his slippered feet (he was still wearing slippers even in the city, wow) out and slumped further in his seat. He looked like his jacket was eating him. What happened to the jacket you had traded him? "where are your parents?"

You vaguely motioned in the direction of the store you had come from. Sans watched you for a few moments before looking in that direction. "so you've been ignoring everyone. you okay?"

"My mother took my phone."

"oh yeah?" he asked with fake levity. You winced. That probably sounded much more horrible to someone who thought you were being abused.

"It's punishment." You explained. "For…running away." Somehow your rationalization sounded a lot less logical out loud. Sans's stare didn't help. You fell silent and refused to look at him. Why do you feel like you've lied to him? Why did you have to defend your parents from his suspicions? You haven't explained well enough. Maybe you should try again? It had been the first time you had really been alone with him in a long time.

"hey frisk." Sans held out his hand to you. It contained some money. "go get us some ice cream." You stared at him. "it's not as good as nice cream but hey, i'm down to chill."

You nudged him amusement and stood up glad to give the tension a chance to clear off. You walked off to find the nearest ice cream stall. Would they even have one out when it's this cold? You would actually prefer to have a hot cocoa right now too. Perhaps you would get both. There's a convenience store right across the street from the park. You can get both of you ice cream and a hot cocoa. You can buy your own cocoa.

You waited at crosswalk this time rather than risk dashing across. You had learned your lesson. Despite the questioning, you were very happy to see Sans again. You would worry about your parents later. If anything, Sans would be able to get you back to your apartment. Maybe he could hang out a while. You could show him your sign language and begin to teach him. Or maybe he had been learning some himself? You hadn't asked him last time you had seen him.

You moved quickly to gather the items you needed and pay for them. The wait at the crosswalk was again long but you had patience. Sans may be asleep when you find him. Or, who knows, he may have set up an illegal questionable hot dog (or snowcone) stand as a job. That would actually be pretty funny. If your pockets got full, would he put the hot dogs back on your head?

However when you go back to where Sans was you found your parents with him. They were all standing but your parents looked terrified. You frowned in worry and jogged up to join them. Sans gave you a short wave. "hey. got the goods?" He seemed completely normal. Were your parents just that scared of him? Sans was one of the friendliest guys though! ...Well maybe he had talked to them about you. That was worrisome.

You held out the bag with the ice cream in it. He took his out and ripped it open stuffing the wrapper in his coat pocket. You moved to do the same while you waited for your hot cocoa to cool some but your mom tugged lightly on your arm. "Frisk, come! We're leaving!" Her voice was shaking. You looked at her with wide eyes.

"But-" You tried to protest. You wanted to 'chill' with Sans longer.

"Now!" Your mother barked and you jumped. Your step-father grabbed your arm and tugged you along forcefully. You stumbled after them and looked back at Sans for help.

But he was gone.

* * *

They sent you to your room that night and immediately locked themselves in their room. You were baffled by this strange behavior. What the heck had happened while you were gone? You could do nothing but sit in your room and eat your ice cream and drink your cocoa. It was all rather bitter in your mouth. Where had Sans gone? Usually he liked to just hang around whatever place he ended up in. What had he said to your parents to make them react this way?

You wished that you could call Toriel. Maybe she had some insight on this issue? She had told you at the meeting that Sans had been visiting more to hang out. Papyrus had been all over his brother though so you knew Sans clearly wasn't getting enough sleep. You missed your friends. Mr. Harrington was a sympathetic companion. He did a little jig to cheer you up. It sort of worked.

When evening fell your parents still hadn't come out of their room. You had knocked on their door –and you heard their voices- but nobody answered. That was strange. You instead went to the kitchen to feed yourself. That night you went to bed without any interaction with your parents.

You were awoken suddenly though by your door slamming open. Badly startled you shot up in bed to see your step-father throw a suitcase onto the floor. "Start packing, Frisk! Right now!"

"Wh-why?" You asked, horribly confused.

"We're leaving!"

"Tell Frisk to get dressed! I want to be out of here _now_ before that monster comes for us!" Your mother shouted from the living room. You could hear her throwing stuff into bags. You didn't understand what was going on.

"I don't understand." You whimpered.

"Start PACKING!" Your step-father yelled and dashed out of the room. You ignored his order and went out into the living room to find it in a wrecked state. The pictures on the walls were all off. There were bags and some clothes scattered about. It looked a mess. Your mother was packing food in the kitchen while your step-father was packing up what family pictures there were.

"Frisk!" Your step-father scolded seeing you not helping.

Your mother ran over to you and grabbed your shoulders. "Frisk, mommy needs you to start packing right now! We need to leave."

"Why?" You asked again.

"That….skeleton threatened your father and me. We're moving right now so he can't find us! He has some weird powers and we cannot let him hurt this family!" Sans _threatened_ your parents? He had used his blue magic on them? What the heck happened while you were at the shop?

But wait, they were moving you. So that the monsters can't find you. Who cares that Sans threatened them right now –they were taking you away!

"No." You said.

Your mother froze from her panicked packing. "What?" She asked softly.

"No." You said again and you shook your head. You stepped back from her. "I don't wanna move."

"Frisk, baby, he threatened to hurt our family." She explained gently.

"Your mother is right. We were right about monsters! They just want to kill us humans! You shouldn't have released them, kid!" Your step-father added.

"They're my friends."

"They're MONSTERS!"

You stared at him. What were they even talking about? The monsters were your closest friends. You can't let them take you away. They had already taken too much from you. You had lost everything by coming back here. You had lost your new home, your mom, your dad, your best friends, your school, and…

And you had almost lost your life.

"Frisk!" Your mother was taking on a commanding tone.

You stepped back more as your eyes widened with realization. What were you _doing_? Why were you even here? How had you forgotten how little your parents truly cared about you? They didn't even care about your feelings. They were blowing you off. You didn't have to live here. You were _choosing_ to live here but you didn't need to. Your parents were just taking advantage of you.

She grabbed your arm firmly. "Frisk, you go to your room right now and PACK!" Your mother's voice was raising. You slumped a little in reaction.

Did they even realize that your birthday had been not that long ago? Did they realize how you needed to go to school? They were using your new position as a way to put themselves in the limelight. Your mother had taken away your one true joy in life by taking your phone.

You were in a gilded cage. You were a show dog.

You were _unwanted_.

No. You weren't unwanted. You had people who wanted you. You had a family.

 _"someone loves you."_

You had wasted so many weeks on them. Those were weeks you couldn't get back. Weeks that had only hurt you and your family. Weeks you couldn't get back.

No. Wait.

You _could_.

You felt determination build up in you. Your back straightened and you glared at your mother. She gasped. You tore your arm from her grip. You could feel your heart thudding in your chest. "I refuse!" You said loudly. Your parents were staring at you in shock.

Why had you been so scared of hurting these people? Yes, they were your parents but they weren't your family. They had never wanted you. You had a family. You had people who wanted you. You had wanted to be back in your human parents' lives again because you loved them, but they had only hurt you. Asriel was right; there really were other Floweys out there. Not all of them wanted to hurt you physically.

You were done.

You reached for your Save File.

"Frisk?" Your mother whispered. Something tiny chipped in your heart but you weren't going to stop.

 **[FILE 1 LOADED.]**

* * *

 **A/N: For the record I'm going to be writing a side story about Sans's talk with the parents. Keep an eye out for that. ;3**


	13. Birthday (Take 2)

**A/N: For some reason every time I type a new chapter the song "Hello, How Are You?" gets stuck in my head.**

 **Another note, sorry this is so late coming out. Daylight Savings Time has fucked me.**

 **There will be parts of this chapter cut and paste directly from previous chapters. That's on purpose for obvious reasons. ;3**

 **I'm sorry if this chapter seems...skippy. I mean, I already wrote a lot of everything in earlier chapters. I tried to kind of get to the point. Hopefully it flows well enough. I'll apologize beforehand.**

* * *

Reloading a SAVE always made you a little disoriented. Not so much dizzy just…disoriented. One moment you're somewhere (more often than not you were dead) and the next you would end up wherever your last SAVE was. It was as quick as a blink. The strangest part was that you were outside in the snow and your body was already fully accustomed to the cold –as if you had been outside for hours already. Which, you were. The most disorienting part was remembering where your last SAVE was. You looked around you to see children –monsters and humans alike- playing together. The frozen lake was right there. You realized where you were.

It was your birthday again.

You weren't sure how to categorize your feelings at that exact moment. Trying to focus in on a word seemed inadequate. Two pervading feelings stood out thought that could only be described as the warmth of reunion and the cold numbness of betrayal. It left you feeling hollow and unable to process anything other than objective facts.

Asgore was not too far off sitting and talking with some adults you didn't recognize. Tamara was ice skating with Eddie. Lansot was running towards you. You blinked at that last observation and the monster headbutted you in the chest with a little bit of force.

"Tag!" Lansot called and had been about to run off (oh, you remembered this. Lansot had started up a giant game of tag) but instead they paused to look at you. They were alarmed. "Dude, a-are you alright?! You're crying!" You blinked and wiped your face to stare at your dampened fingers in surprise. "I didn't hit you _that_ hard, did I Frisk?" Lansot fretted.

(Your mother's tiny broken call of your name echoed in your ears.)

(The numbness in your chest spread.)

You quickly shook your head. "Wind." You lied. You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand and then pulled on your mittens. "Chilly."

Lansot still seemed worried and bounced on their heels.

You tried again. "I'm okay." That felt a little more real. You would be alright. This wasn't a RESET. You've only gone back in time.

(Sans is going to be angry when you tell him.)

Lansot appeared more appeased. "Well then…you're It!" They then took off running crying out about the started game of Tag. You grinned. It had been a long time since you have been around children your age. You didn't hesitate and ran after your friend. The wind blowing across your face and the adrenaline pumping through your veins helped to clear the negative feelings away for the mean time. Right now you wanted to just enjoy the freshness of the air and the thrill of having your hair long again.

This was the best birthday you've ever had.

Soon, though, the day began to wear on and you realized that you had once again forgotten to leave early to catch up with Sans and Papyrus. Well it looks like you messed that one up. You would have to apologize to Undyne again seeing as you wouldn't be able to arrive in time to exercise with you.

You left with Asgore along with some of the other children and parents. Asgore offered the softball to toss back and forth between you two and you gladly accepted. You voiced your worries about being late.

"Hm…I suppose we are late." Asgore agreed. You jumped to catch his next toss. "I am sure Undyne will forgive you." He smiled. "Even if Papyrus might not." You laughed softly at the thought of Papyrus not forgiving you for being late. Sans was late more often than you. Asgore yawned and Tamara's mother struck up a conversation with him. You saw him tuck the softball into his cloak. Lansot caught up to you lamenting that they weren't going to see Undyne fight and that they wouldn't be able to hang out with Papyrus. You told them that you would try to record Undyne's fight. Alphys no doubt had a much more advanced phone than yours.

Lansot grinned widely, their eyes glittering. "REALLY?! Holy cow that would be AWESOME!" They gave you a quick approximation of a hug and hopped up and down in excitement the rest of the way to Ebott. Although you didn't have much time to spare you and Asgore still saw the children home before you walked back to Asgore's house. You couldn't stop yourself from staring around you at Ebott, nostalgic. You couldn't believe you were actually back. You had never used your SAVE powers outside of the Underground. And you had almost never used it outside of dying (or killing someone). To see that time really had jumped backwards….

"YOU'RE LATE!" You jumped at Papyrus's accusation. Before you had known it you had ended up confronted with the skeleton brothers. Your eyes immediately darted to Sans to see if he'd noticed anything but there he was, sunbathing his bones (again, why) as relaxed as can be. He hadn't noticed anything, then? Perhaps it was because he hadn't checked his machines that let him know about time anomalies. "WE'RE GOING TO MISS THE SHOW!"

"chill bro. Nothing to grind your gears about." Sans said. It was all the same. Papyrus screeched at him and Asgore tried to calm things down. It was just as amusing the second time around watching the brothers bicker. You had to muffle your giggles behind your hands. Sans took off his glasses and slid from the car tossing that metal tanning sheet thing in the back of the car. Papyrus and Asgore went to get in the car.

You looked over at Sans as the skeleton hopped onto his moped. He noticed your staring. He didn't wiggle his eyebones this time. You swallowed. You saw something flash in his eyes and you realize that he had noticed you were off. Well great. If he didn't know something was up, now he knew. Maybe you should just try to tell him. You looked at the moped questioningly. He offered a second helmet.

You looked at Papyrus and Asgore. "Are you coming, Frisk?" Asgore asked. You pointed at Sans. "Ah, alright. We will meet you there!" You climbed on behind Sans and firmly buckled your helmet. You then wrapped your arms tightly around his waist.

"SANS!" Papyrus called out over the ignition of both of their engines. "WE WILL MEET YOU THERE."

"got it."

"MAKE SURE YOU SAVE OUR SEATS."

"okay bro."

"WE WILL BE WITH UNDYNE BACKSTAGE!"

"'k."

"DRIVE SAFELY!"

"'k."

He definitely wasn't listening to Papyrus anymore. Sans revved up his moped and the two of you zoomed off at an alarming speed, barely avoiding parked cars. You buried your face into the back of his jacket. You could sense the moment you two went through a shortcut. You preferred not to look. At some point you felt your phone buzz with incoming texts but you needed both hands to cling to your driver.

"so kid." Sans called and you two were more even in height when sitting so his mouth was close enough to your ear for you to hear him. He barely had to raise his voice. "something wrong?"

You opened your mouth but you weren't sure he'd be able to hear you. You tried anyway. "I did something desperate." Your voice wasn't very loud at all. You couldn't bring yourself to raise it for your confession. Shame filled you. You tried to push away the negative thoughts but it was hard to.

"how desperate?"

"You might get mad."

"nah, it's your birthday." Somehow that didn't sound very reassuring. "so much for a surprise." He added.

"I'm sorry." You whispered.

"save it." He didn't sound angry but he was certainly less pleased than he was earlier. You felt the urge to apologize again.

"You're angry." You whimpered more to yourself than anything and hid your face into his shoulder. The rest of the ride was silent. You didn't bother to look up until the moped had pulled to a stop and he had turned off the ignition. You continued to hug him. He didn't say anything. You refused to release him.

"…..are you….." He sounded torn between amused and confused, "trying to…. _squeeze_ the answer out of me?"

You tightened your hug.

"you're really _pressuring_ me over here." He's joking. He can't be too angry if he could be amused by a physical pun. Now you just continued to hug him. He sighed. "look. we'll discuss this later. this ain't the time or place." His bony fingers wrapped around yours and pried them off of him so he could stand up and face you. You let go and sat back to stare at him. "….come on. stop looking at me like that…" He looked to the side, avoiding your look. You didn't even know what your face looked like at the moment. "…" You took off your helmet and left it on the handlebars while you waited. "…stop looking like i'm going to lose my skull, buddy. we're not back in the underworld, right? can't be that bad what you did. couldn't've broken your promise."

That was a bit relieving. You took his hand and stared at him imploringly. He stole your hat in response and ruffled your hair. "i'll get mad at you later. let you explain first. for now, let's go find our seats before pap and asgore get here." He tugged on your hand until you stood and then released you to start walking towards the building. All you needed to do was follow the crowd.

You were unimpressed by how large the stadium was now. "Reserved seats." You stated while tilting your head to look at the height. You were cold so you put your hood up instead since Sans still hadn't returned your hat.

"ours?" He asked. He had become so good at interpreting your measly sentences. You nodded at him. "well. no need to be chilled to the bone. let's wait inside." That sounded great to you. Inside the both of you leaned against the wall close enough to the entrance to be able to spot Papyrus's bright red car but far enough away so you wouldn't be overwhelmed by the crowd. You pinched the corner of San's sleeve between your fingers to keep together. Neither of you talked other than to make idle comments about the people passing or things that you saw. You took the time to text Toriel and Undyne back while you both waited. Sans stole your phone to mess with Toriel and the two of them started joking back and forth via text. The two of you sat down on a bench and laughed with each other as you read the texts until Sans thought it was time to see if Papyrus arrived.

You couldn't stop smiling.

* * *

Watching Undyne trounce the competition was just as exciting the second time around as it was the first. In fact it was probably more so because you had a better idea of where to look. Unfortunately you had to once again play that unwanted game of hide and seek because nobody could find Papyrus's car and Sans had ditched you.

Nonetheless you were still in a great mood. You now recognized all of the signs that your friends had been hiding a party from you. Throughout the night Papyrus had nearly slipped up and even Alphys had brought up Toriel even though Toriel wasn't supposed to join you guys for anime. You had been the one to invite her but it seemed she had been planning to go anyway. Sneaky.

Arriving at Undyne and Alphys's factory house made you remember the sadder events of the night. You had to be prepared to face them. For now, though, you would play your part. You knew how to, after all. And being happy and enjoying your birthday with your friends and family wasn't difficult. It didn't need to be a surprise for you to be honestly overjoyed by everything and all that they've done for you. Seeing all of them again was enough to make you happy.

It had been so long since you'd had Toriel's cooking. You had almost forgotten how good it was. You had almost forgotten how it felt to be so loved. The focus of the night was on you and it wasn't in a way that made you nervous. You wanted nothing more than for this to go over well. You ate all of the ice cream cake today. And this time when you blew out the magic candles you made a wish each and every time. You took full advantage of Sans's ingenious.

When you had finished opening your presents you found yourself crying again. Like last time you were laughed at and received hugs in response. It only made you cry harder.

"Look at all these happy tears!" Asgore chuckled merrily.

You sniffled and wiped your eyes. "I…I'm so happy. I've never….um…never had a birthday…this wonderful. S-so thank you!"

"OF COURSE OUR PARTY FOR YOU TRUMPS ALL OTHERS!" Papyrus bragged. Perhaps you would get to avoid the topic of your family until a later date. Tonight you could just-

"even your human family's parties?" You turned your head sharply to stare at Sans. His smile was slightly cold on the edges. Looks like you weren't getting out of this conversation easily. You didn't respond.

"Um…Frisk…" Toriel began hesitantly. Here it comes, "what…about your parents? Or…your family? Where are they?"

You swallowed and looked at the ground. "They're…at home…I think."

"So they are still alive?" Toriel gasped, shocked by the revelation. You nodded. The answer distressed them more as Toriel looked to Asgore. Asgore had the same look in his eyes. You finally understood that look. They must have noticed the signs of trouble right away. You still couldn't believe you didn't recognize them.

Asgore gently cupped your face –you had forgotten how much you loved the feeling of his large warm paws surrounding you protectively- and made you look at him. His next words were careful and soft. "Frisk…do you wish to go home? To your parents?"

You stared at him. You would've looked at everyone's faces but he held you there. You didn't have to think about it anymore. Your hands came up to grip his furred ones. "I…am already home." You smiled and pulled his one hand down to hold it and turned to look at Toriel first and then everyone else. They were all watching you with wide eyes. "My parents…My _human_ parents," you corrected, "don't want me…I don't think…they ever did. But…you want me?" You felt your hands trembling a bit. Toriel was covering her mouth with her hand. Asgore looked like he was going to cry. You didn't know if it was from sorrow or joy. "Can…can I stay here? I have new parents and…" you looked to your friends again, "a new family."

"Small one." Asgore choked out and pulled you to him. You went willingly and buried your face into his sweater. He wrapped you up tightly in his hug before he released you enough for Toriel to grab you and hug you as well.

"You may stay with us as long as you wish…! Never…oh, never forget that my child!" Toriel whispered and she sounded like she was crying into your hair. You felt like crying too. Your legs buckled under you from relief and you allowed yourself to be swept up into her arms.

"…bro, you're crying." Sans said.

"SHUT UP, SANS! YOU'RE RUINING THE MOMENT!" He sounded teary-eyed. You gave a watery laugh. You could feel Toriel giggling too.

"Oh MAN I am so close to tears myself! No shame, Papyrus!" Undyne agreed.

"The feels!" Alphys sobbed and then you felt arms surrounding you on all sides. This was just a night for group hugs. You loved it.

"So…" Undyne said as you all slowly pulled away from each other. She had a serious frown on. "How do humans work out this whole adoption thing?"

"Yes, I would like to know too!" Toriel agreed.

You shrugged. You didn't know. "WE'LL ASK ANOTHER HUMAN!" Papyrus suggested. "A GROWN-UP HUMAN!"

"b-but what about the party?" Alphys asked.

"…WE'LL ASK GROWN-UP HUMANS AFTER THE PARTY!"

"Yeah! Let's do this donkey game!" Undyne agreed and pointed at the piñata. Oh boy. Round two. You stared into the paper eyes of that donkey. You were going to take it down this time. …Or, well, you'd at least convince Undyne not to rip it apart so everyone could try.

Sans pulled out a blindfold from his jacket and tied it around your eyes before handing you a large stick.

"What is THAT!" Undyne demanded disgusted. "Kid, why do you always choose a stick to fight with? You can't take out your enemies with that! Papyrus! Fetch the kid a bone!"

You heard an intake of breath next to you.

"SANS NO MORE PUNS!" Papyrus cut his brother off. You heard a click as Sans's mouth shut.

"Someone is missing their 'funny bone' tonight." Toriel joked. Papyrus groaned loudly as she and Sans shared grins.

Soon enough you felt the stick in your hands get replaced with your birthday femur. "NOW YOU CAN PRACTICE! NYEH HEH HEH!" You felt Papyrus's hands on your shoulders and he spun you around. He spun you a bit too quickly because you became nauseous and had to wait for your full stomach to settle before you could make an attempt towards the piñata.

You took a few steps in what you supposed was the right direction and tried to feel with your femur. The moment you felt something solid you took a swing. You didn't connect with anything. Your socks slid on the tiled floor and you nearly fell over but Sans caught you. "didn't i tell you not to fall for me?" He joked not knowing you'd already heard that before.

"Too late." You said. You couldn't see what expression he made but it must have been something because Undyne started cackling. You grinned. "I _slipped_ up."

"heh heh, good one pal."

"YOU HAVE POISONED THE YOUTH!" Papyrus shouted. You straightened up to continue your assault. Your second swing had to you hitting the couch hard. It jarred you more than the couch.

"Oh, should we not at least face them in the right direction?" Toriel asked desperately when your third swing sent something shattering to the floor.

Oops.

"Nah, they're supposed to just have at it!" Undyne said.

"Ohhhh no! My collective Mew Mew figurine!" Alphys cried. That poor figurine just wasn't meant to survive your little human assault.

"THAT WAS A GOOD SWING! YOU'RE GETTING BETTER, FRISK!" Papyrus cheered.

You were certain you had broken at least three things. But Undyne and Papyrus were still cheering you on and you were becoming determined.

"Oh dear." Asgore muttered.

"No, I am going to help!" Toriel finally told everyone and you felt gentle hands grab your shoulders and turn you. "Go straight ahead, Frisk."

You took a few steps forward and felt you femur touch something solid. You firmly gripped the bone and swung with all of your might….only to topple onto the floor.

"SANS! YOU CAN'T USE BLUE MAGIC ON THE PIÑATA!" Papyrus yelled, scandalized.

"you're right." You frowned at the change in the script. That was strange. "you should do it instead."

"WHAT? WHY? THAT'S CHEATING!"

"actually bro you're supposed to. looked it up."

"WHAT? REALLY?"

"makes it a challenge."

"I like it!" Undyne declared. "Keep going, Frisk! Take out your dodging enemy! Papyrus, get hopping!" She sounded pumped. You nodded in the direction of her voice. Papyrus's control of the piñata was definitely different from Sans's. Papyrus made his movements a lot wilder but always gave you time to swing before he moved it again. You managed three hits but wasn't enough to actually break it.

You handed the femur off to the next person and handed over your blindfold. You were exhausted but watching the others go after this flying piñata was honestly hilarious. You were in giggle fits over Undyne's screaming as she charged at the thing. Sans and Papyrus fought for control over the blue magic over the piñata which just added to the chaos. Poor Asgore got smacked in the gut at one point.

You didn't know how Sans remembered that Papyrus would snap because of his magic build-up but you had a feeling it leaked through time. It wouldn't be the first time that your friends remembered things that technically didn't occur. Like how Papyrus would sometimes recognize you or Toriel remembered your preference of cinnamon or butterscotch. It meant that you all could move onto Twister without incident and you had time to do a one-on-one Twister match with Undyne.

To everyone's surprise it went on for a shockingly long time. Undyne had the stamina but you were determined to prove yourself after being teased mercilessly about the flirting. It had been Undyne's fault for starting it. Undyne had grinned at you taking it so seriously. The both of you were soon beginning to pose more than actually play. It began to feel like you were hanging with Mettaton again. Your poses turned to flexing and although Undyne had you beat in that department you gave it a fair shot.

It was a relief to be sent upstairs to shower. You stayed up longer tonight to watch more episodes of Yona. You kept Sans's jacket and he didn't question you although Toriel had given you a confused look. You tugged it further around your form and shook your head. You weren't ready to give it up. She understood.

* * *

You were utterly surprised when you woke up in a cold sweat with your heart pounding. Your face and eyes were damp and you buried your face into Toriel's chest trembling. You had dreamt of your mother tonight. You had seen the happy memories you had with her. You saw the times she took you to the park and the times she took you to dinner. You had dreamt of the warmth you felt when she had kissed your head and when she had bought you a toy you had asked for. It just made your heart ache. You gripped Toriel's shirt tighter before releasing her to sit up and rub your eyes.

You waited for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. Papyrus's snores grated on you after being so long without them but you ignored them. You just weren't used to it being so loud in your life again. The silence had been suffocating at home but the noisiness of your family made you unnerved. You picked a path out that you could walk and exited the large bed to go upstairs. You went into the bathroom and relieved yourself before following all of the normal steps in your routine of waking from nightmares. Even if this one wasn't a nightmare.

You looked in the mirror. You were still Frisk…but soon would you be Frisk Dreemurr? You certainly hoped so.

You left the bathroom and waited for your eyes to adjust but still managed to get startled by Sans sitting outside of the door. Your hand came to your heart. "Sans." You whispered. You were even less used to it after two months.

"sorry, pal." Sans said quietly. The lights of his eyes expanded a little to their normal size. "figured you'd be up."

"Déjà vu?" You guessed before you joined him on the floor. You were hesitant to let your arms touch. You knew it was time to talk.

"that's what humans call it, yeah. who knew they'd have a term for kids screwing around with time?" You winced. You deserved that. "…i went home after everyone fell asleep. tried to see if by some crazy time-shenanigans chance that i had any notes about your parents. you know, since apparently your life was terrible enough that you loaded a SAVE. instead, i found this." He held up the picture of you with your parents. You all looked so happy there. "not very promising on your part. these don't look like folks that don't want you. so. **Who are you lying to, kid**?" The air felt heavier but his eye wasn't glowing. You knew he was only repressing it for your sake.

"Myself." You finally said. The pressure faded and Sans looked confused. You gently took the picture from him and stared at it. "I thought…things would be different if I went back. I thought…that Toriel and Asgore would tell me to leave…because they knew my parents were still…alive." You tilted your head back and stared out into the darkness of the house. You could feel his gaze on you. "…It's possible…." you whispered, "that Asriel isn't the only reasons I've RESET this ending before….." You closed your eyes against the stab of pain in your sternum and looked at him. You reached out and touched his cheekbone. "If…If I hadn't promised…..I may have RESET instead….so Toriel and Asgore….so all of you wouldn't learn of my past." You dropped your hand.

Sans was quiet for a while and then he took your hand and squeezed it once reassuringly. He wasn't angry anymore but he wasn't appeased. You could sense that he was waiting for your explanation. So you decided it was finally time for him to know the truth. You knew he wouldn't judge you. You knew too much about him for him to judge you. It was about time you review your own story through new eyes.

When you had finished Sans remained quiet as he absorbed everything. You two didn't let go of each other. You felt adrift in your own memories. "…do you regret it?" He asked softly. You wanted to ask him "Which part?" but you didn't really need to.

"…No. …Not really." You murmured back. You didn't regret going back to your parents. You got to know what it would be like living with them as a changed human. You were able to discover how they treated you and how it wasn't healthy. You learned to value your mother's struggles but not forgive her for how she handled them. You learned that family didn't necessarily have to be the one you were born in.

You didn't regret falling into the Underworld. You kind of regretted why you did, though. You didn't really regret the loading of your SAVE either. You couldn't regret your decisions now. You had the power to change everything, but like Sans had asked you in a long-ago timeline, you had to be responsible with it. There was no point to living if you were only going to do it in the past.

It was time to move forward.

You stood up and pulled Sans up with you. You looked to see if he was going back to bed tonight. He shrugged at you. "guess i should get started on fixing the machine." He pocketed your picture and made a vague motion with his head towards the door. "you're damn lucky i save my notes, kid. would've been real mad. i work my fingers to the bone on that damn thing." You squeezed his hand in apology and dropped it before bidding him good night and heading back to the stairs. You descended silently and padded your way carefully across the bed until you snuggled back down into your spot between Toriel and Asgore.

"Are you alright, my child?" Toriel asked you quietly.

You hesitated before curling into her and hugging her. "…Yes." You answered.

"I am here, Frisk." She whispered warmly and ran her hand up and down your back.

"…May I join?" Asgore asked modestly. You smiled and reached a hand out towards him.

"Dad." You said and he accepted your offer. Toriel made a small face but allowed it. You were glad to be home with your family. Even if it was extremely warm. You would rest easy tonight.

The rest could wait until morning.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy shit guys I forgot to mention that I'm a turd and I will be writing a very brief epilogue that I will tack onto this story also tonight. I just wanted it to be in a different chapter. It will be out not long after this one.**


	14. Frisk Dreemurr

**A/N: For the record I've only done a little bit of research into actual adoption. For now we'll say that the rules of adoption follow from Matilda. Or at least in this world it is.**

 **Important notes pertaining to the next part of my series at the bottom!**

* * *

You once again stood outside the door to your old apartment with Toriel and Asgore by your side. You were nervous but settled. You were ready to finish this chapter in your life. In Asgore's hand were the papers you all needed your parents to sign to give up legal custody of you. You didn't understand all of the legal jargon but apparently Toriel and Asgore knew enough. It had taken one of your adult human friends from Ebott to get their lawyer to explain everything. It had been a complicated couple of weeks –one that wasn't helped by the holiday season- of back and forth between everyone as they tried to figure out how a pair of monsters that weren't legal citizens could adopt a human child.

Being a famous ambassador had its perks and connections.

"Are you ready, my child?" Toriel asked. She gave you an encouraging smile. You took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The three of you waited until the door opened and your step-father stood there. He blanched at the sight of the monsters and took a step back about to slam the door shut when he spotted you.

"Frisk." He breathed in shock. His eyes darted back and forth between Toriel and Asgore.

"Howdy!" Asgore said cheerfully. "My name is Asgore and this is Toriel. May we come in and speak with you? It is about Frisk."

"A-a-ah, su…sure. Let me just…get my wife…" He hurried off but left the door open. The three of you entered the house. Toriel and Asgore took in the surroundings with slightly marveled eyes.

"It is very…modern." Toriel said looking at the furniture. "You lived here, Frisk?" You nodded. Your step-father reentered the room reluctantly with your mother following behind. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the monsters. Your heart ached to see her but you stood your ground. You could do this.

"H-Hello…" She greeted. Toriel introduced them this time. Your mother's eyes fell on you and they widened further. "Frisk!" She cried and looked like she wanted to rush you but feared to do so because of Toriel and Asgore. You smiled a little at her and waved.

"What is this all about?" Your step-father asked.

"We wish to adopt Frisk from you." Toriel stated. Asgore held out the papers. Your parents gaped.

"Frisk has done all of us monsters a very great service by freeing us from the Underground." Asgore explained as your parents flipped through the papers. "And they have expressed wishes to live with us. Tori and I are…not together…"

"We're separated." Toriel said coolly. Asgore winced and continued,

"however we have come to an agreement together on the raising of Frisk."

"We love your child very much." Toriel added in a softer tone and your mother looked up to meet her eyes. It was one mother speaking to another. "And we would dearly love to have them as part of our family."

"But…" Your mother whimpered, "Frisk is _my_ child!" She looked a little outraged. "You can't just take them! This is…this is kidnapping!"

"Dear." Your step-father said and put a hand on her arm even as he read the papers. "Frisk left by their own choice." He looked at her and their eyes met. Your mother's eyes filled with tears and her mouth trembled. You gripped both Toriel and Asgore's hands for support. Your heart was quaking. "Perhaps….it is time to think of her happiness." He suggested gently.

Your mother stared at him a bit longer before looking at you. "Frisk…is this…is this what you really want?"

You blinked away tears and nodded. Toriel and Asgore squeezed your hands.

Your mother watched you for a few moments and hiccupped a sob before nodding back. "I-I-I need a pen. W-where…?" Toriel moved quickly to show them exactly where all the signing needed to be done. Asgore gave you a soft smile and hope filled your chest. He joined them to help. You were left with nothing to do because you didn't understand all that they were talking about.

Quietly you walked down the hall to your old room. You opened it up and were again surprised by how unlived in it was. It felt even colder than when you had last entered in here. You didn't need much from this room. You approached (the naked) Mr. Harrington and picked him up. You would need to remake his clothes and give him a new light, but you wanted him to come home with you. It was time for your old friend to meet your new friends.

"Frisk?" Your mother called and you saw her standing in the doorway to your room. Her eyes were red and her makeup was smeared but she kneeled down and held out her arms to you for the first time. You quickly put Mr. Harrington into your satchel and then didn't hesitate to hug her. Your mother's hugs were strange. They weren't all-encompassing but they were just as full of love as Toriel and Asgore's were. This woman wasn't a good mother but you knew deep in your soul that she loved you. And you loved her. "Frisk, I'm so sorry I wasn't good enough." She whispered and kissed your temple. "I was never meant to be a mother." She pulled away and gave you a rueful smile. "But those…monsters….look at you as I do. They….they love you. So….so please, baby…just be happy, okay?"

You let out a little sob. "Yes, mommy." You said and hugged her one more time before you released each other and you rejoined everyone in the living room. Your step-father hugged you and you both said your goodbyes. You would miss your parents but it was finally time to join your family.

Asgore and Toriel held your hands as you all said goodbye. They thanked your human parents and the three of you left together. You released Toriel's hand to pull Mr. Harrington out of your satchel and showed it to them with a watery smile. "Oh!" Toriel asked looking a little embarrassed to see the naked skeleton.

"Who is this, little one?" Asgore asked, amused and overjoyed.

"Mr. Harrington. He's my…old friend." You said. You put him back in your satchel and made a face. "He needs clothes. And a lightbulb."

Your parents chuckled. "Indeed!" Asgore said.

"Then, my child, are you ready to go home?" Toriel asked.

You smiled and nodded. "Yes, mom."

* * *

 **A/N: Welcome to the Important bottom notes.**

 **So ends this part of the series. People have asked me if I will be writing more for the Undertale series and that answer is yes. My next little project is a one-shot about Frisk being sick for the first time (since some of you want the panicking monsters).**

 **The next part is a bit trickier. The fourth actual installment of the series I plan on having is going to be more prompt-oriented. I already have the first chapter in mind which will set a kind of basis for the rest of the story. Now bear in mind that the tags on the story may be questionable. I'm going to be doing something silly with Frisk and Sans which will turn their Brotherly relationship into Ambiguous. And by ambiguous I mean not even fucking Frisk knows what's going on. Sans probably doesn't even know what's going on. It will...make more sense in context.**

 **Give it a shot, okay? If you don't like it then you can totally ignore it. If you like it then read along and enjoy! Either way the relationship will be 100% asexual. Keep THAT in mind as I add this next part:**

 **Okay so the next story will be prompt-oriented. Which means feel free to send me a review or something about a prompt you would possibly like added to the story. I just have a couple of guidelines:**  
 **1\. It has to take place in the same universe. Meaning it will have to happen AFTER all the other stories I have written so far. This is a continuation of the series after all. This means anything that I've already said won't be changed (like Frisk won't be able to save Asriel (unfortunately) but Flowey can be revisited if the flower is still there) will not be changed.**  
 **2\. You can send in romantic prompts but I will probably take liberties with it. Like if you want more Undyne and Alphys fluff then make sure poor Frisk isn't going to be traumatized. Any romantic prompts for Frisk will be...considered...but probably not legitimized.**  
 **3\. I may blend prompts together to make a chapter interesting.**  
 **4\. Angst prompts are allowed!**

 **Now, I probably can't write ALL of your suggestions but I will take them into account. I'm sorry if they don't work out. If nobody sends in prompts or whatever I'll find my own so the story will still be written so keep an eye out!**

 **Okay that's enough yammering. See you next story and thank you all very much for all of the reviews!**


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